STUPOR TEAM
Hype Nets on brink of sweep Another KD no-show in game 3
The death knell may have sounded on the Nets’ disappointing season — killed by Kevin Durant’s surprising struggles and their porous defense.
The Nets lost, 109-103, in Game 3 of its firstround series against the Celtics before 18,175 at Barclays Center. The preseason title favorites now are just a loss away from an embarrassing first-round exit.
“It’s a sh--ty game. Sh--ity game,” a despondent Durant said before dropping the microphone and ending his press conference with the same energy the Nets may have ended their playoffs.
The Nets trail in the series 3-0, and no team in NBA history has ever come back from such a deficit. Nothing the Nets have shown through the first three games has engendered confidence they can be the first.
“There’s not much to say. We know what it is,” Kyrie Irving said. “You’ve just got to take your lessons, learn what you can from this and just get ready for [Game 4] Monday. There’s no time to hold your head, no time to think about what everyone else is saying: Just go play basketball.”
Bruce Brown’s Nets-high 26 points were a price the Celtics were gladly willing to pay to hold Durant and Irving to 16 points each.
“If they have other guys shooting more shots and scoring more points, we’re in good shape,” Boston coach Ime Udoka said. “You’ve got to focus on these guys and we’re taking risks and making other guys beat us.”
Nets coach Steve Nash had Durant off the ball and dribbling less, used more as a screener. But he was still rendered all but invisible — like the Nets’ chances. Durant shot 6-for-11 (better than the combined 13-for-41 in the first two games) and had eight rebounds and eight assists, but still turned the ball over five times.
“Man, we know what it is. I don’t think no speech or anything is going to do [anything] at this point in the year. We know what it is. We’ve got another game on Monday. Just come out and play,” said Durant, who had another off night and plenty to rue. “Losing. Just not making the right decision. There’s a lot of s--t. But overall just losing.”
A star-studded crowd that included Spike Lee, Mary J. Blige, Trevor Noah, Gleyber Torres, Aaron Judge and Questlove may have seen the Nets’ last gasp. And they got drowned out at the end by the green-and-white clad Celtics fans chanting “MVP! MVP!” for Jayson Tatum, who poured in 39 points.
“Down 0-2, coming home that first game at home your spirit’s got to be high,” Blake Griffin said. “We didn’t have the right spirit throughout the entire game. Teams go on runs and it’s a game of runs, but we have the firepower, we have the talent to withstand runs and also make runs ourselves. When other teams make runs we need to do a better job of weathering it and keep going and not let it affect us.”
Nash tried a host of tweaks: using Durant as an off-ball screener, sprinkling in zone and dusting off Griffin.
With the Nets trailing 75-69 with 1:27 left in the third, Nash gave Griffin his first minutes since April 2. He scored eight points and gave the Nets a spark, but not nearly enough.
The Nets actually led 12-5 early, thanks to seven quick points by Bruce Brown. But it didn’t last. They coughed up an 18-5 run — including seven unanswered Boston points — and never mounted a serious threat.
After going ahead 20-19 in the first quarter on Durant’s fadeaway, the Nets surrendered a 7-0 spurt. Derrick White’s layup left them down by six.
The deficit doubled to 12 when Payton Pritchard drilled a step-back 3 to make it 37-25. The clock read 9:05 left in the half, but the contest — and perhaps season — was over.
The Nets did get within 51-50 on Patty Mills’ kick-out 3 just before halftime, but no closer.
It was 53-50 at the break, but three quick turnovers — two by Bruce Brown and another by Seth Curry — sparked a 7-0 Celtics run.
When Tatum found Daniel Theis for a 3, the Nets trailed 60-50 with 10:35 left in the third. They never challenged in earnest the rest of the way. Durant agreed they showed a lack of spirit. “You could say that for sure after that loss,” Durant said, with a pregnant pause. “I guess you could say that after that loss.”