BOSTON — Steve Nash wants fans to believe the Nets’ playoff hopes don’t squarely rest on Kevin Durant’s shoulders; His team’s success is more a byproduct of excellent team basketball than the stars they signed to max contracts.
The Nets’ 114-107 loss to the Celtics in Game 2 decisively proved otherwise, as did a regular season that spiraled while both of those stars had availability issues. In a game neither of their stars showed up, the Nets’ supporting cast could not carry the load.
For the second game in a row, Durant, a two-time NBA Finals MVP and four-time NBA scoring champion, succumbed to the pressure and physicality of the league-best Celtics’ defense. And for the second game in a row, the Nets paid for it with a loss, which stung much more than the buzzer-beating game-winner that cost them Game 1.
Durant turned the ball over six times in Game 2 — after missing 15 shots and turning the ball over six times in Game 1 — and shot 4-of-17 from the field for 27 points, with virtually all of his points coming at the foul line. He went to the charity stripe 20 times and converted on 18 of those shots.
But this time, Durant didn’t have Kyrie Irving as superstar help. Irving, who pelted the Celtics for 39 points in Game 1, tallied just 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field in 41 minutes of play. Under Boston’s swarming defensive pressure — and relentless jeering from the same Celtics fans he once played in front of — the Nets’ star forward put up a dud.
As did the Nets, who continued to go as their stars go.
What’s crystal clear about these playoff Nets has been clear all season long. If Durant is not having a special game, or if Irving is not having a special game, these Nets more often than not don’t stand a chance against the better teams in the NBA. That much was proven when the Nets spiraled from first to 10th in the Eastern Conference when Durant sprained his MCL midseason.
But the Nets head coach doesn’t believe that. At least not out loud.
“This isn’t just about Kevin,” Nash said pregame. “It’s about our team playing better. We didn’t walk away from it (Game 1) saying well if Kevin plays better we win. That’s not the way we approached it at all.”
That’s exactly how Celtics head coach, Nash’s former assistant, Ime Udoka approached this series.
Udoka has a long history with Durant, as an assistant in Brooklyn and on U.S. men’s national basketball team. In March, he said the Nets don’t run anything particularly creative with their offensive sets and that if you can neutralize Durant and Irving, you can neutralize the team.
“We know he’s gonna come out more aggressive,” Udoka said of Durant pregame. “I saw a stat the other day that he averages 41.8 coming off of losses for the Nets in the playoffs, and so understanding what he’s going to come out and try to do and we have to do our part as far as that, and not be caught off guard with his aggressiveness coming out. So I’m sure we will. We all know that.”
Durant and Irving got the help. Seth Curry hit four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points. Goran Dragic scored 18 points in 20 minutes off the bench. Bruce Brown scored their first nine points and finished with 23 points on 3-of-4 shooting from downtown. And the Nets held Celtics’ All-Star Jayson Tatum to just 5-of-16 shooting for only 19 points after he scored 31 in Game 1.
But of the eight players who logged minutes in green and white, seven scored in double figures. That’s because these Celtics weren’t built solely on star power. They were built on sharing the ball, turning defense into offense and playing physical basketball.
The Nets grabbed the same number of rebounds as the Celtics and won the battle on the offensive glass. They turned the ball over the same number of times as their opponent and blocked four more shots than them, too.
None of that mattered, though, because the Nets’ No. 7 and No. 11 didn’t have it going. And if they don’t get it going soon, it won’t matter whether or not Ben Simmons suits up or the series shifts back to Barclays Center. The Nets will not win this series.
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