NEW YORK (AFP, REUTERS) – Jayson Tatum scored 29 factors as the Boston Celtics accomplished a 4-0 collection sweep to get rid of the Brooklyn Nets from the National Basketball Association play-offs on Monday (April 25).
Kevin Durant delivered a towering 39-point show for the Nets, however it was not sufficient to cease the highly effective Celtics’ line-up from sealing a 116-112 victory at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
Boston’s balanced offence and battle-hardened defence as soon as once more proved an excessive amount of for Brooklyn, who trailed from begin to end as a late rally from the house facet got here up simply quick.
“We knew who we were facing, we knew how talented they were, and we knew it was going to be a dogfight,” mentioned Tatum, who endured a nervous ultimate two minutes after fouling out as the Nets chipped away on 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.”
He was one among 5 Celtics gamers in double figures, with Jaylen Brown additionally developing massive with 22 factors and level guard Marcus Smart including 20 factors with 11 assists.
Grant Williams delivered 4 three-pointers off the bench in a 14-point haul whereas Al Horford added 13.
Second seeds Boston will now face both defending champions Milwaukee or Chicago within the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
The Celtics’ clear sweep of Brooklyn – tipped as championship contenders earlier than the season – is all of the extra outstanding given Boston’s detached early-season type.
As just lately as February, Boston had been languishing in ninth place within the Eastern Conference, effectively exterior the automated play-off locations.
Tatum mentioned the Celtics had began clicking as a unit in January.
“It took us a minute, but when we got our full team, we were right there,” he mentioned. “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 in the meantime will return to the drafting board after a season that promised a lot resulted in a first-round exit from the playoffs.
While Durant delivered his greatest efficiency of the post-season, Kyrie Irving was restricted to twenty factors and simply 5 assists whereas Seth Curry added 23 factors.
In Philadelphia, Pascal Siakam scored 23 factors to assist the visiting Toronto Raptors stave off elimination courtesy of a 103-88 victory over the 76ers in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round play-off collection.
He added 10 rebounds and 7 assists for the fifth-seeded Raptors, who’ve received two in a row after dropping the primary three video games within the best-of-seven set.
No workforce has overcome a 3-0 collection deficit in NBA historical past.
Game 6 is on Thursday in Toronto.
