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It was by no means going to be straightforward to topple Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets, and within the first recreation of the sequence, the Boston Celtics discovered simply how powerful it may be. Having lead by as many as 15 factors on the afternoon, the Celtics watched their lead crumble away down the stretch within the fourth quarter, however held on and scored a miraculous sequence as time expired to slide away with the one-point win.
Jayson Tatum shoulder a large burden this afternoon in a recreation the place the Celtics’ vaunted depth didn’t produce many outcomes. He performed 45 minutes within the recreation, together with the whole second half, and shrugged off aggressive Brooklyn coverages to pile on 31 factors and dish 8 assists for the afternoon. Backing him up was Al Horford, who feasted towards a super-small Nets roster to the tune of 20 factors and 15 boards (six offensive), and 20+ level performances from Jaylen Brown and Marcus Sensible.
Kyrie Irving responded to a rowdy TD Backyard crowd with a blistering scoring efficiency, main the Nets with 39 factors and spearheading a large fourth quarter run to erase a double-digit Celtics lead. The Nets additionally loved a high quality recreation from their bench, significantly Goran Dragic, who tacked on a shock 14 factors. However the Celtics managed to frustrate Kevin Durant, who shot simply 9-of-24 on the afternoon.
With playoff adrenaline working excessive, the tone of the sport’s early minutes was frenetic and aggressive. Neither group discovered a lot in the best way of scoring, because the Celtics began out by lacking some open appears to be like, whereas the Nets recorded as many turnovers as made baskets (4) by means of the primary half of the opening quarter. Fouls additionally piled up shortly, because the Celtics discovered themselves within the bonus simply 4 minutes into the afternoon.
Brooklyn’s star duo of Durant and Irving began out chilly, combining to shoot simply 1-of-8 from the sector within the first quarter. Whereas they scuffled, although, the Nets’ supporting solid carried the load, led by seven early factors from Curry. The 2 groups mixed for a whopping 18 fouls (9 every) within the first quarter, and headed to the second with the Celtics forward by one, 29-28.
Horford was the hero for the Celtics as Tatum and Brown struggled with gradual begins. He scored 14 factors within the first half, together with a pair of made three-pointers. The Nets protection considerably keyed in on Tatum particularly, taking away alternatives to create pictures and forcing him to function as a playmaker. He moved the ball admirably, dishing seven first-half assists, however the Celtics clearly missed his scoring punch.
The Nets started to inch forward because the second quarter carried on. They took the lead on a trio of free throws by Irving (coming off of Daniel Theis’ third foul) and constructed a modest three-point lead within the ensuing minutes. Lastly, although, the Celtics shook off the rust. Tatum hit a fadeaway two-pointer over Durant, then adopted it with a 3 on the subsequent possession, earlier than Marcus Sensible made a spectacular play on the rim to disclaim Durant and arrange Brown with a quick break layup. The groups juggled the lead backwards and forwards from there, and headed into the halftime break tied at 61.
The Celtics kicked off the second half with an 11-2 run, led — after all — by Marcus Sensible. Sensible swiped an errant inbounds cross from Irving to arrange a straightforward left-handed jam, and adopted it up with a three-pointer on the following possession. He scored 11 factors within the half because the Celtics stretched their lead into double-digits, main by as a lot as 15.
The Nets weren’t about to roll over. They broke the run with a pair of Irving free throws and a well timed three-pointer from Dragic to trim the Celtics lead again right down to 9. Tatum continued to cook dinner, although, answering the Nets mini-run with a three-pointer and a pair of freebies of his personal. He pushed his scoring complete to 27 by means of three quarters, and the Celtics entered last quarter forward by 11, 96-85.
Brooklyn got here out swinging as the ultimate quarter started, rattling off a fast 10-2 run behind a pair of Irving threes to chop the Boston lead all the best way again down to at least one possession. After a timeout from Ime Udoka, the Nets accomplished the comeback, as an Irving layup and a Durant three-pointer flipped the rating as soon as once more and put the Nets forward 100-98 with just below eight minutes to play.
The run reached 17-2 earlier than the Celtics lastly discovered a basket. With the Nets forward by 4, Brown caught Bruce Brown within the air and rumbled to the basket for a clear dunk. He adopted it up with one other inside end after a Nets tip-in, however Irving responded together with his fifth three of the sport to place the Nets forward by 5, prompting one other Udoka timeout.
Brown continued to rise to the event because the clock ticked down. With just below 4 minutes to play, he linked on his first three-pointer of the sport to drag the Celtics inside two. Moments later, regardless of scuffling for nearly the whole thing of the fourth quarter, the Celtics tied the sport up, as Sensible beat Irving off the dribble for a layup to even the rating at 107 apiece.
After a Steve Nash timeout, Irving and Derrick White traded baskets to push the rating to 109 all. The groups went quiet from there, going scoreless over the subsequent couple of minutes because the anxious TD Backyard crowd waited to seek out out who would land the essential haymaker. It could be Durant who struck first, hitting considered one of his signature mid-range jumpers to push the Nets forward by two, just for Horford to reply on the opposite finish to tie it again up.
Irving put a bow on his large efficiency with a deep three-pointer to place the Nets forward by three with just below a minute to play. In an extraordinary recreation, which may have been the dagger. This was no extraordinary recreation, nonetheless. The Celtics picked up a fast layup on the opposite finish and compelled a missed three from Durant, after which, in a colossally daring transfer by Udoka, ran up court docket with seconds remaining on the clock. Sensible discovered Tatum underneath the basket, and he scored the layup as time expired to land the Celtics a one-point win.
Subsequent up, the sequence rolls ahead, because the Celtics and Nets sq. off at TD Backyard for Recreation 2 this Wednesday at 7 PM EST on TNT.
For extra postgame protection of Boston’s thrilling Recreation 1 win, tune into the Garden Report Postgame Show LIVE on CLNS Media proper after the sport. Be part of A Sherrod Blakely, Bobby Manning, Josue Pavon, Jimmy Toscano and host John Zannis for a full breakdown.
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