In the most intriguing first-round series of the NBA playoffs, the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics clashed Sunday in a Game 1 game between two legitimate championship contenders. After a wild back-and-forth, the Celtics prevailed – thanks to a stunning Jayson Tatum change as time ran out to win 115-114.
Brooklyn tried to recover from a 15-point deficit but failed. Kyrie Irving, facing his former team, scored a game-high 39 and Kevin Durant scored 23 in the loss. Tatum leads Boston with 31 points, including the endgame. Teammates Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Al Horford combined for 63 points in the win.
Jayson Tatum on the final play: “We all thought Smart was gonna shoot it … When he took that dribble, we made eye contact, he made a great pass and I just had to make a layup.”
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 17, 2022
Crazy loud Boston fans ✅
Great teammates ✅
Great coaches/staff ✅
Great TD Garden workers/staff ✅
Whew- I’m tired! Love hoops! pic.twitter.com/LBPYxif52X— marcus smart (@smart_MS3) April 17, 2022
Came up clutch at both ends during the final 30 seconds 💪 https://t.co/i6eowNC1T2
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 17, 2022
The No. 2 seed Boston Celtics will face the Brooklyn Nets in Round one of the 2022 NBA playoffs on Sunday April 17 at 3:30 p.m. EST. at TD Garden in Boston.
The game will be aired on ABC with cable or fuboTV and Sling for those who don’t have cable. Fans can get a free seven day trial when they signup for fuboTV. Games 2-6 will air on TV in New England via NBC Sports Boston which can also be streamed via fuboTV or Sling.
Brooklyn triumphed over the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-108 on Tuesday in the No. 7 vs. No. 8 matchup of the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. Nets vs. Celtics poses as an interesting matchup with superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving leading the Nets and Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown leading Boston. The Nets may see the Celtics as vulnerable due to the loss of center forward Robert Williams III who is still rehabbing his meniscus after surgery and could miss the series.
The Celtics defense will be busy trying to block Durant and Irving but should be a challenge they’re more than likely to overcome. Boston finished the season with the top-ranked defensive efficiency and their defense was the best in the league for the second half of the season as C’s coach Ime Udoka made some tweaks.
The Heat and Suns find out their Round 1 opponents after Friday night’s conclusion of the play-in tournament. It’ll be a tight turnaround for the top seeds, both of whom will play Game 1′s on Sunday.
The Dallas-Utah, Minnesota-Memphis, Toronto-Philadelphia and Golden State-Denver series all begin Saturday. Miami and Phoenix start their respective series Sunday, along with Brooklyn-Boston and Chicago-Milwaukee.
The last team to finish the regular season with the best record and go on to win the NBA title was Golden State in 2017. Houston in 2018, Milwaukee in 2019 and 2020, and Utah last season couldn’t get it done. The Suns believe they’ll be the ones who buck that trend.
“We’re the best team in the world and we’re having fun doing it,” McGee said. “I know from the outside looking in, they hate it. But we’ve got to keep going. We’re keeping our head down. We’re not worried about nobody else but ourselves.”
