NBA playoffs

Tatum, Celtics finish sweep of Durant, Nets

Reuters

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Tatum, Celtics finish sweep of Durant, Nets

TOP GUNS. Celtics forward Jayson Tatum drives to the basket against Nets forward Kevin Durant.

Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports/Reuters

Brooklyn ends a season it entered as NBA title favorite as the Celtics complete a surprise sweep of Kevin Durant and the Nets

Jayson Tatum drained 29 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter as the Boston Celtics never trailed and completed a four-game sweep of the Brooklyn Nets in their Eastern Conference first-round series by holding on for a 116-112 victory in New York Monday night, April 25 (Tuesday, April 26, Manila time).

The second-seeded Celtics, who lost to the Nets in five games in this round last season, await the winner of the Milwaukee-Chicago series. The Bucks lead the Bulls three games to one.

In front of a number of Boston fans who made the trip to New York, the Celtics led by as many as 15 before sweating out the final minutes after Tatum was called for a pair of offensive fouls.

Tatum, who hit the buzzer-beating layup in the series opener and scored 39 points in Game 3, made 9-of-16 shots, including the tiebreaking three-pointer early in the second quarter that gave Boston the lead for good.

Jaylen Brown added 22 points for the Celtics, who shot 47.2% and won each game in the series by single digits. 

Marcus Smart added 20 points and 11 assists, Grant Williams hit four three-pointers and contributed 14 points and Al Horford chipped in 13.

Kevin Durant scored 39 for his best game of the series but missed two three-pointers in the final minute as Brooklyn ended a season it had entered as an NBA title favorite. 

Seth Curry added 23 points, Kyrie Irving finished with 20, and the Nets shot 50.6%.

Despite never trailing, the Celtics sweated out some dicey moments in the fourth after Tatum picked up his fifth foul when he charged into Blake Griffin with 8:17 left. 

After Tatum went to the bench, the Nets cut the deficit to 102-99 when Goran Dragic hit a three-pointer with 5:24 left.

The Celtics held a 109-103 lead when Tatum fouled out with 2:48 remaining and the Nets drew within 109-108 on Durant’s 14-footer with 1:28 left.

On the next possession, Brown hit a layup to make it 111-108 with 62 seconds left and Durant missed a tying three-pointer seven seconds later.

After Brown missed a jumper with 29.6 seconds to go, Durant split two free throws with 22.2 seconds to make it 111-109. Smart missed a layup, but Horford swooped in for the putback with 13.7 seconds left and a 113-109 lead.

Following a timeout, Durant’s three-pointer was long with 10.3 seconds remaining and Smart iced the game by hitting three free throws over the final 7.1 seconds left. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!