Boston (USA), Feb 24 (EFE).- The Celtics dominated the Nets in Brooklyn this Thursday from start to finish (106-129) in a match in which the Boston team had a 29-point lead .
The Celtics were once again a torment for the Nets who did not raise their heads and who had already lost resoundingly and at home against Boston on February 8 (91-126).
The best of the game was Jayson Tatum with 30 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, while Jaylen Brown had 18 points and 6 assists and Marcus Smart had 15 points (5 of 6 on triples) and 6 assists.
The Celtics made 54.1% of their shots and seven of their players scored at least 10 points, including Al Horford with 11 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
For the Nets, who crashed on triples (7 of 29) and lost the fight for the rebound (38 vs. 48), the most outstanding was Seth Curry with 22 points and 7 rebounds.
The Nets (31-29), who occupy the eighth position in the Eastern Conference, have only won two of their last fifteen games and today received the Celtics (35-26), two places above and who with this victory accumulate nine wins in their last ten games.
In this first game after the All-Star break, the Nets suffered the absences, among others, of Kevin Durant (injured since mid-January), Kyrie Irving (cannot play at home due to not being vaccinated against the coronavirus) and Ben Simmons and Goran Dragic, two of his latest signings and who have not yet debuted.
SMART GOES TRIPLE
Al Horford opened the scoring hanging from the rim, an “alley-opp” by Robert Williams III made the start of the game more exciting and a triple by Marcus Smart increased the Celtics’ lead (2-8 with 10:15 to go).
Two more three-pointers by Smart launched a Celtics that came to win 16 points in the first quarter and closed the opening segment with a clear advantage (22-35).
The Celtics came out in the second quarter to eat up the locals even more and, after two minutes, the visitors’ advantage exceeded 20 points (24-45).
Bruce Brown, who had scored 8 points in the first quarter, could not drag alone some lost locals who had trouble reaching the basket while the visitors had everything going for them.
However, the Nets seemed to react at times with momentum from Seth Curry and several dunks from Andre Drummond.
But the Celtics did not give respite thanks to some inspired Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and, with Smart’s fourth triple, they left the score 52-67 after the first half.
BOSTON PLAYS TOGETHER
After the break, Tatum, Brown and Smart played together like a newly oiled machine, but Curry was determined not to give up the game for the Nets (65-81 with 5:35 to go).
Unfortunately for the New Yorkers, the Bostonians were playing with a contagious joy and each one contributed their own to conclude the third quarter with a difference of 23 points, which was the largest in the match so far (74-97).
The last period began with a free throw basket by Grant Williams and a powerful dunk by Tatum to underpin the solid dominance of the Celtics (80-105 with 8:35 to go).
With the matchup fully under control, the Celtics’ starters went to the bench for the backups to defend the lead, which wasn’t too difficult with a Nets that had already given up.
Inaki Estivaliz
(c) EFE Agency