Celtics Erase 17 Point Deficit to Take 2-0 Series Lead
April 21, 2022
Fans left TD Garden feeling elated on Wednesday night after witnessing the Celtics overcome a 17 point deficit en route to a 114-107 victory over the Nets to take a 2-0 lead in their first round series. Boston dug themselves into a big hole early but they were able to rally around their defense for a dominant second half and fourth quarter especially. The Celtics now take a commanding 2-0 lead on the road to Brooklyn for games 3 and 4. In NBA playoff history there have been 435 series to start off 2-0 and the team with the lead has gone onto win 92.9% of the time; so the math is definitely in Boston’s favor.
The Nets came out of the gate hot in this one, jumping to a 9-0 lead - all by Bruce Brown - and forcing Ime Udoka to use an early timeout. The Celtics would hang around in the first half, but played sloppily on both ends and couldn’t sustain long runs. Turnovers were killing the Celts on one end, and when they were getting stops on defense they were frequently giving up second chance opportunities. At one point the lead surged as high as 17 in the second quarter before Boston finally put together a few good possessions to get back within 10 at halftime, 65-55.
But after half, everything swung in favor of the Celtics and that started on the defensive end. The Celtics scrapped and clawed their way through the third quarter, holding the Nets to only 25 points in the frame, but they still faced a five point deficit heading into the fourth. In the final quarter is when the Celtics finally got over the hump and pulled away from Brooklyn in decisive fashion. The Celtics defense in the final quarter was incredible, as they held the Nets to just 17 points on 5/19 shooting from the floor. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown both came alive offensively, especially during a 21-4 Boston run that spanned roughly eight minutes and left the Celtics with a double digit lead with under two minutes to play. The run was punctuated by a ridiculous Marcus Smart left-handed layup in traffic to beat the shot clock buzzer, which led to Smart (and then Jaylen) staring at Smart’s left hand in bewilderment.
Brown and Tatum both saved most of their scoring for the fourth quarter but they were impressive throughout. It wasn’t their best scoring night, as Brown had 22 and Tatum only 19. But they impacted the game in other ways, as Tatum was a playmaking maestro all night. Brooklyn was intent on hounding Tatum and he made them pay with smart passes all night, finishing with 10 assists. Brown added 6 assists of his own and was also very impressive with his decision making. Perhaps even more impactful, was their defense. Tatum’s defense on Durant was about as good as you’ll ever see someone play. Durant finished the game with 27 points, but needed 20 free throw attempts to do it, shooting just 4/17 from the field. He went the entire second half without making a field goal, shooting 0/10 and he ended the night with 6 turnovers. That’s likely as poor a performance as KD has had in a basketball game in his life and that is largely due to the Celtics, and especially Tatum’s defense.
However, it was a full team effort on the defensive end. Tatum’s play on Durant was the highlight, but it was a swarming intensity coming from every player. Marcus Smart showed up wearing his freshly minted DPOY robe, and that set the tone for his play. He was all over Kyrie Irving and the rest of the Nets on the night, and Durant’s co-star had just 10 points and 1 assists on just 4/13 shooting. The Celtics, especially Smart and Brown, basically took him out of the game. It appeared that Irving had no answers for the physicality and intensity of the Celtics defense. Al Horford turned the clock back once again on Wednesday night as well, covering every inch of space on the court, flying around, guarding any and every Net. He also chipped in a massive 16 points on 6/10 shooting.
I was worried about Daniel Theis after game 1, but he was very effective for the Celtics, managing 15 points and 6 rebounds in 30 minutes without becoming a liability on the defensive end. Boston also got some big contributions off their bench in this one. Grant Williams kept up his great defense from game one, but brought his hot shooting as well, contributing 17 points on perfect 4/4 shooting from the field and 6/6 from the line. Grant was the Celtics leading scorer for most of the game, and his scoring kept them within shouting distance in the first half. Another Celtic I was worried about after game 1 was Payton Pritchard, but he also showed up in a huge way with 10 points on 5/7 shooting, most of them down the stretch. In fact, Pritchard and Williams were both on the floor for most of the Celtics large run in the quarter and were instrumental in the comeback.
Oddly enough, it seemed Derrick White was kind of the odd man out. I expected he would pick up a bulk of Theis and Pritchard’s minutes from game one, but things went in the complete opposite direction as White played just 13 minutes (Pritchard played 15) and contributed just 3 points, but supplying his usually stellar defense and ball movement. Rotations are obviously going to shrink in the playoffs, and Pritchard clearly had the hot hand, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out going forward. It may even be a case of whether the Celtics need more offense or defense, but as long as they are getting good minutes off the bench from one or the other, the team should be fine.
For the Nets, this has to be yet another demoralizing loss. They got great performances from several role players, including 23 points from Brown, 16 from Seth Curry, and another huge game from Goran Dragic who had 18 off the bench. It was the two Nets stars who let them down in this one, which will be a tough pill to swallow for Brooklyn fans, seeing their team squander such solid showings from all of these role players in a road game, something the Nets will eventually need to win if they hope to advance.
All in all it was another impressive, statement victory for the Boston Celtics, battling through adversity to hold home court. Now things head to Brooklyn, where game 3 will take place on Saturday night. The Nets will need to find some answers and fast, as they now must win four out five games. The Celtics just need to build on what they’ve been doing, and play the type of basketball that led to this second half comeback. They say a playoff series doesn’t start until the home team loses a game. Well then let’s hope this series starts on Saturday night!
Ben Handler