The Nets have no chance if Kevin Durant doesn’t show up – Reading Eagle

BOSTAN – Steve Nash wants fans to believe that Nets ’hopes for the playoffs don’t lie on Kevin Durant’s shoulders; The success of his team is more the result of great team basketball than the stars with whom they have signed maximum contracts.

The defeat of the Nets by the Celtics with a score of 114-107 in the second game strongly proved the opposite, as well as the regular season, which unfolded, while both of these stars had problems with accessibility. None of their stars appeared in the game, the cast of the “Nets” could not withstand the load.

“Our personality is what it is,” said Kairi Irving, who scored just 10 points in the defeat. “I just believe that even though I came out tonight and I only scored 13 times, I felt like we were in a great position when we came out of the break just as a team. I don’t have time to look at my individual stats and what I need to do. I want us to continue this effort. I believe we can do it. We just have to show it. “

For the second game in a row, Durant, a two-time NBA MVP finalist and four-time NBA champion, succumbed to pressure and physical defense from the best in the Celtics. And for the second game in a row, the Nets paid for it with a loss that cost much more than the winning game, which cost them the first game.

Durant flipped the ball six times in Game 2 – after missing 15 shots and turned the ball six times in Game 1 – and threw 4 out of 17 from the field, scoring 27 points, with almost all of his points scored on a foul line. He went to the charity strip 20 times and turned 18 of those shots.

“They play with me from time to time with two or three guys when I’m out of the game, disgrace the action when I run away,” Durant said after the game. “I see (the great Celtics Al man) Horford who leaves his man and sometimes comes up to beat me. Wherever I go, two or three guys beat me, and it’s just the nature of the beast in the playoffs. “

But this time Durant didn’t have Kaira Irving as a superstar. Irving, who scored 39 points for the Celtics in the first game, scored just 10 points when shooting from a field of 4 out of 13 in 41 minutes of play. Under strong defensive pressure from Boston – and the relentless ridicule of the same Celtics fans before whom he once played – and the guard of the superstar “Nets” and the forward failed.

“Well, obviously it helps if (Durand and Irving) have their typical outings, but that’s not the only way (we can win),” Nash said after the game. “I think there are many ways. The Superstars (Boston) haven’t had incredible games, so it’s a team sport, it’s a team effort, and I think our group has a lot of ways where we can improve. ”

Nash is right. Basketball is a team sport, but the Nets remain less of a team and more of a collection of talented players. This is a collection of talented players led by their superstars, and if their superstars do not play well, the team loses the game.

If Durant doesn’t have a special game, or if Irwin doesn’t have a special game, these Nets often have no chance against the NBA’s best teams. The Nets increased by 17 points in the second quarter, but the Celtics are not the Detroit Pistons, the Indiana Pacers or the Cleveland Cavaliers. They erased that lead and turned it into a 12-point lead, while Durant and Irving continued to fight off the field.

“I have several nights (30, 40 or 50 points),” Durant said. “I just have to be ready for anything. They do a good job of trying to cut my score, trying to limit my hit. Two or three people are competing and there’s someone on the strip when I ride. They can double here and there, so they do a good job, and that’s what I have to figure out. “

Durant and Irving received help. Seth Curry scored four three-pointers and finished with 16 points. Goran Dragic scored 18 points in 20 minutes from the bench. Bruce Brown scored his first nine points and finished with 23 points while shooting 3 out of 4 from downtown. And the Nets kept Jason Tatum on the Celtics ’only 5 of 16, scoring just 19 points after he scored 31 in the first game.

But of the eight players who recorded minutes in the green and white, seven scored double-digits. This is because these Celtics were not built solely on stellar power. They were built on swap exchanges, turning defenses into attack and playing physical basketball.

The Nets captured as many rebounds as the Celtics and won the battle on glass. They flipped the ball as many times as their opponent and also blocked four shots more than they did.

However, all this did not matter, because in the “Nets” № 7 and № 11 failed. And if they don’t do it soon, it won’t matter whether Ben Simmons comes in or the series doesn’t return to the Barclays Center. The Nets will not win this series.

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