The two contenders for the Eastern Conference went to headquarters as the Boston Celtics hosted the Brooklyn Net on Christmas Day. Both teams were descending from the season-opening win, and were looking to measure themselves early in the season. The contest was very close during the first 24 minutes of action, and the Celtics took a three-point lead in the halftime locker room. But in the third quarter, Brooklyn blew the game open. Led by Kevin Durant and Kiri Irving, the Nets led the Celtics 12 points in the third quarter, and then they never looked back. They added to their lead in the fourth quarter, and eventually walked away with an impressive 123-95 win.
With the win, the Net leads 2-0 in the season, while the Celtics slip 1-1. The Kevin Durant and Kiri Irving-l-star duo combined for 66 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, paving the way for the Nets. Caris Levert also added 10 points to the bench for Brooklyn. Jalen Brown led the Celtics with 27 points and eight rebounds, and Jason Tatum added 20 points and his own eight boards. He’s still super at the start of the season, and both teams still have a long way to go before this, but it’s not too late to think that these two teams could eventually face each other in the postseason.
Here’s a look at three key takeaways from Net’s win over the Celtics.
1. Grill is the real deal
After their opening night win over the Golden State Warriors, everyone was hooked on the net, and rightly so. Brooklyn looked quite dominant in that competition. However, the win came on the injured Warriors team without its second and third best players. In other words, you were only able to draw conclusions drawn from that game. But, Brooklyn came out and supported it on Christmas Day by giving the best to the Celtics team that was in the final of the Eastern Conference a few months ago. The duo of Durant and Irving have been as good at announcing, if not better, and on Christmas Day they both combined with 56 points – a great gift for net fans everywhere. It wasn’t just Durant and Irving, and that’s what makes the net impressive. Caris Lewert, Spencer Dinwiddy, Harris Harris, Dandre Jordan and Jarrett Allen also found a way to contribute. Brooklyn are deep and talented and as long as they are able to stay healthy, they will be a big problem at the Eastern Conference this season.
2. Looks like Kevin Durant … Kevin Durant
There was a lot of speculation about what Durant would look like after Kevin Durant went missing the entire season after Achilles suffered an injury in the 2019 final, especially now that he is on the wrong side of the 30s. Through two games, the verdict is fairly clear. Looks like Kevin Durant, well, Kevin Durant. He eased 22 points on 16 shots in the season opener, and went ahead with a 29-point, 16-shot performance against the Celtics. Durant has shown that he has the ability to reach virtually anywhere he wants in court, and he apparently still basically has the length to stand up and shoot at any defender. As the season goes on, Durant will probably only become more comfortable with just getting back on the floor, and that’s a scary idea for the rest of the league.
3. The Celtics clearly miss the Kemba Waker
The Celtics shortened the start of the season, as they are without camba tax services, such as being knocked out indefinitely due to knee length. And while they were able to pull off a win over the Bucks to start the season without Waker, it was clear how much they lost to the Nets. The Celtics were able to keep him close at the start of the contest, but once Kevin Durant and Kiri Irving started cooking for Brooklyn, the Celtics struggled to keep up the humiliation, and eventually managed to pull the net away.
Jason Tatum and Jillian Brown were both solid for Boston, but beyond that, the Celtics needed another player there, capable of making plays at a higher level and generating points. When he is healthy, he provides it. Gordon Hayward also provided it to an extent, but he stopped signing with the Charlotte Hornets over se fisson. The Celtics will need to collectively select the scoring slack until the taxman comes down. The good news for them is that they don’t have to play any team with net firepower every night.
