CRUNCH TIME FOR NETS
Russell has 29 in win over Celtics as Brooklyn continues playoff push
For D’Angelo Russell, there’s no more time for the long view or the soft perspective. Few expected his Nets to be in this position fighting for a playoff spot as the calendar turns to April, but now that they’re here — among five teams vying for the final three spots in the Eastern Conference — it would be a massive disappointment to fall into the draft lottery.
Expectations have changed. Pressure has mounted.
“S—t. A lot of pressure. A lot,”
Russell said. “Especially if we’re not winning and we’re losing our way out of the playoff race. It could easily be that. So there’s a lot of pressure.”
Russell certainly handled it well Saturday in a 110-96 victory over the Celtics, dropping 29 points with 10 assists while embarking on a third-quarter scoring binge. Russell called it a must-win game for the Nets (3938), and that was only slightly hyperbolic. With the toughest remaining schedule in the NBA, they sit in seventh-place in the Eastern Conference and just one game ahead of No. 9 Orlando.
Wins will be at a premium down the stretch, and Saturday at home against the shorthanded Celtics (45-32) represented an opportunity to cushion. Arguably the Celtics’ two best players — Kyrie Irving and Al Horford — did not play, needing rest in the second of back-toback games.
“We knew what was at stake,” forward Jared Dudley said. “We knew Horford and Kyrie were not playing. You want to control your own destiny.”
After taking a one-point lead into the break, Russell scorched Barclays Center by dropping 20 points in the third quarter. The Nets took a double-digit lead and never looked back.
If the first-time All-Star can carry the Nets into the playoffs, Russell will write the next flattering chapter in his redemption story. The Lakers gave up on him. Most of the league gave up on him. But he’s a few wins away from being the best player on a playoff team.
“Everybody was wrong obviously. Everybody was wrong about me,” Russell said. “I don’t have to say anything.”
Beyond the playoff implications, Russell’s future money and location might also be on the line. The 22-year-old will enter restricted free agency in the summer and is hop- ing for a max contract. The Nets have to decide whether he’s worth the commitment, or, on a similar note, whether point guard Kyrie Irving will sign instead.
There is continued rumblings that Irving will consider Brooklyn in free agency, and the Nets can get creative to free up enough space for two max deals in July. On Saturday, Irving sat in a suit while a pocket of Nets fans chanted toward the Celtics’ bench, “Kyrie’s leaving.”
Then Russell made sure Boston left Brooklyn with a loss. Brad Stevens said the Celtics knew were prepared for the third-quarter surge and still couldn’t stop it.
“We didn’t guard D’Angelo with the intensity you probably need to stop him from getting a rhythm,” Stevens said. “D’Angelo did a great job, hats off to him. That was disappointing because that’s something we were obviously honed in on from the last few times we were in Brooklyn.”
As Nets coach Kenny Atkinson cautioned, the Celtics actually played better this season without Irving while going 11-2. But Boston coach Brad Stevens shut down the notion. Protecting the star from criticism is always a smart move from a coach.
And it looked smart after Stevens’ squad was pummeled.
“I think all that stuff is a small sample size. So I don’t really get too into that,” Stevens said. “You can always go through who we’re playing, when we’re playing, who else is available. All those other things. But if we want to be our very best, Kyrie Irving obviously is a big part of that.”
Give Russell and the Nets credit for Saturday’s performance - they clearly haven’t accepted the moral victory of surprising the league this season. It’s playoffs of bust.
“Every game is going to be like this,” Russell said. “We need need it — scratching and clawing for every one of them.”