Boston Celtics fail to mount comeback, fall to Brooklyn Nets 123-104
Marca.com
The Boston Celtics welcomed the Brooklyn Nets to TD Garden last night. Unfortunately, they ended up getting blown out of the water, losing 123-104. The red-hot shooting of Kevin Durant and Patty Mills ended up killing the C’s, as they had their three-game winning streak snapped.
Boston Celtics vs. Brooklyn Nets game recap
The combination of Durant and Mills put Boston in a hole early on. The pair combined to score 19 first-quarter points, while the entire Celtics team only put up 22. Even when the C’s were able to close out in time, the two Nets’ sharpshooters still nailed the shots. Durant was on fire from the mid-range, while Mills poured in three three-pointers.
While all that was going on, the Celtics were unable to convert on any of their own three-point attempts. They shot 2-13 from deep in the first quarter, 7-27 in the first half, and 11-48 on the game. It was a tough shooting night for the C’s, and it was made even tougher by the fact that the Nets were hitting all of their attempts.
On top of that, Jayson Tatum was unable to keep up his string of consistent performances. He put up 15 points on 4-16 shooting from the field and 1-9 shooting from three-point range. Boston’s offense as a whole looked super stagnant, and no one was able to get anything going.
Despite the ugly loss, the C’s refused to go down without a fight. After being down by 29 points, they managed to bring it all the way back to a 12-point game in the fourth quarter. Point guard Marcus Smart was the main reason behind this, drawing multiple offensive fouls on James Harden (a story Celtics fans have heard before), and nailing a huge and-one three-pointer. He got the crowd into the game, and their chants could be heard clearly through the television.
His energy wasn’t enough to finish off the comeback, though. With around four minutes remaining, head coach Ime Udoka was forced to empty the bench and admit defeat. The Nets improved to 14-5 on the season, extending their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference, while the Celtics moved to 10-9.
The Celtics’ next game will be this Friday, November 26 when they take on Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs are 4-12 on the season so that one should be a relatively winnable game for the Celtics. The contest tips off at 8:30 p.m. and can be streamed on NBC Sports Boston and NBA League Pass.
