The Celtics as soon as once more obtained the kind of main performances at each ends of the court docket from their star gamers that the Nets desperately wanted — however didn’t get — from Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Jayson Tatum netted a game-high 39 factors and Jaylen Brown added 23 because the Celtics moved inside one win of sweeping the Nets with a 109-103 victory Saturday evening at Barclays Middle. Tatum’s output exceeded the mixed whole for each Durant and Irving, who completed with 16 apiece.
“I’m not making an attempt to make it a one-on-one factor [with Durant] or a matchup factor, simply doing no matter I can to get a win,” Tatum stated after the sport. “So long as we received, that’s all I care about.”
Tatum additionally has defended towards Durant for a lot of the sequence, and the the Celtics’ top-rated protection held the Nets celebrity to 31.7 p.c taking pictures within the first two video games of the sequence in Boston and to simply 11 field-goal makes an attempt (6-for-11) in Recreation 3.
“He’s been that every one 12 months for us,” Boston coach Ime Udoka stated of Tatum, who completed with six steals. “We’ve talked about our group as a collective unit being the primary defensive group and that takes all people to purchase in. He doesn’t at all times get the credit score for that due to the scoring prowess.”
Requested if he believes the Celtics have flustered Durant, Brown stated: “I’m not fearful about what KD is pondering. I’m fearful about what we’re pondering. Our job is to make him guess a bit of bit, and to make it robust. However Kevin Durant is Kevin Durant. He’s had a tough time and we wish to maintain it that approach. As a result of we all know what he can do.”
The second-seeded Celtics, who will get their first probability to brush the sequence on Monday in Recreation 4, welcomed again Robert Williams III for the primary time since he suffered a torn meniscus on March 27 and underwent surgical procedure three days later.
The shot-blocking Boston massive man scored simply two factors in 16 minutes off the bench, however these got here on an emphatic alley-oop dunk on a feed from Tatum within the second quarter.
Ben Simmons has focused Recreation 4 for his return from a again damage — and his first look with the Nets since he was acquired from the 76ers within the blockbuster commerce of James Harden in February. Williams’ return additional bolstered a Boston protection that ranked first within the NBA throughout the common season.
The 6-foot-9 Williams completed fourth within the NBA with 2.2 blocked pictures per recreation, whereas averaging practically a double-double (10.0 factors and 9.6 rebounds) in 29.6 minutes per recreation over 61 beginning appearances. Quickly after getting into the sport early within the second quarter, Williams additionally rejected an Andre Drummond drive to the rim.
“While you get on the market, it lets you not give it some thought,” Williams stated of his knee. “Coming straight right into a playoff recreation, I simply received a job to do to assist my group win.”
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