NEW YORK, United States —
Jayson Tatum
scored 29 points as the Boston Celtics completed a 4–0 series sweep to
eliminate the Brooklyn Nets from the NBA playoffs on Monday.
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Kevin Durant delivered a towering 39-point display
for the Nets, but it was not enough to stop the powerful Celtics’ line-up from
sealing a 116–112 victory at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
Boston’s balanced offense and battle-hardened
defense once again proved too much for Brooklyn, who trailed from start to
finish as a late rally from the home side came up just short.
“We knew who we were facing, we knew how talented
they were, and we knew it was going to be a dogfight,” said Tatum, who endured
a nervous final two minutes after fouling out as the Nets chipped away at the
Celtics lead.
“It was 4–0 but each game was back and forth and
tough. We just believed in ourselves. We took it one game at a time and didn’t
get too far ahead of ourselves,” Tatum added.
Tatum was one of five Celtics players in double
figures, with
Jaylen Brown also coming up big with 22 points and point guard
Marcus Smart adding 20 points with 11 assists.
Grant Williams delivered four three-pointers off the
bench in a 14-point haul while Al Horford added 13.
Second seeds Boston will now face either the
defending
NBA champions Milwaukee or Chicago in the Eastern Conference
semi-finals.
The Celtics’ clean sweep of Brooklyn — tipped as
championship contenders before the season — is all the more remarkable given
Boston’s indifferent early season form.
As recently as February, Boston were languishing in
ninth place in the Eastern Conference, well outside the automatic playoff
places.
“It took us a minute, but when we got our full team,
we were right there,” Tatum said. “We stayed composed, we stayed together, we
didn’t lose sight of what we were trying to accomplish and we haven’t looked
back since.”
The Nets will go back to the drawing board after a
season that promised so much ended in a first-round exit from the playoffs.
While Durant delivered his best performance of the
postseason, Kyrie Irving was restricted to 20 points and just five assists,
while
Seth Curry added 23 points.
“Give credit to the Celtics, they’re an incredible
team. They’ve got a chance to do incredible things in the rest of the
playoffs,” Durant said afterwards.
“There’s a lot of stuff that may factor in to why we
lose, but they were just a better team.”
Raptors, Mavs romp
In other playoff action,
Toronto stunned the Philadelphia 76ers to keep their series alive while
Dallas thrashed Utah to take a 3–2 lead.
Toronto dropped the first three games of their
series with the Sixers but are now just one win from tying it up and forcing a
game seven after Monday’s 103–88 victory.
Sixers talisman
Joel Embiid clearly looked to be
struggling with the thumb injury that has been diagnosed as a ligament tear.
Embiid once again failed to impose himself,
finishing with 20 points, well below his season average of more than 30 points
per game.
Sixers star
James Harden was also kept quiet with
just 15 points while Tyrese Maxey finished with 12 points.
Instead, it was Toronto who dominated, jumping into
an early first-quarter lead which they never relinquished during a composed
performance.
Pascal Siakam led the Toronto scoring with 23 points
while O.G. Anunoby and Gary Trent Jr. both had 16 points apiece.
Toronto will now be brimming with confidence as they
head into game six in Canada on Thursday.
No team has ever come back from a 3–0 deficit in an
NBA playoff series.
Toronto head coach
Nick Nurse played down
suggestions that momentum was now with his team.
“I mean, maybe, but it doesn’t really matter,” Nurse
said. “The ball goes up on Thursday, everybody’s got to fight like heck.”
In Dallas,
Luka Doncic put on a shooting clinic with
33 points as the Mavericks thrashed Utah 102–77 to take a 3–2 lead in their
series.
The Mavericks led from start to finish against an
overwhelmed Jazz, leading by as much as 33 points at one stage in the second
half before completing a blowout win.
Doncic hauled in 13 rebounds and five assists with
support from Jalen Brunson (24 points) and Dorian Finney-Smith (13 points).
Jordan Clarkson led the Utah scoring with 20 points off the
bench.
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