In his first official game at TD Garden since being a Celtic, Kyrie Irving torched his former team for 37 points leading all scorers , with his fellow teammate, and superstar Kevin Durant, adding 29 of his own, as the Nets turned a slim halftime deficit, into a 123-95 blowout of the Boston Celtics Friday Night, at TD Garden in Boston.
Whether it was from the jitters of playing a holiday game, or the reality of coming face to face with the physicality of the Boston Celtics, the Nets looked a step slow in first half, which is saying something for a team who scored 51 points in 48 minutes, and only trailed by three, but when you have a team like Brooklyn, who run 12 man deep, your going to have these types of expectations.
But it was in the second half, where the Nets showed just how elite they are, clicking on all cylinders to the tune of a 72-41 second half (37-19 in the fourth quarter) clinic against the Celtics.
It began just a few minutes into the third quarter as down 61-60, Brooklyn flexed, and unleashed an 11-2 run, capped by a Kevin Durant 28-foot trey, to give the Nets a 71-63, advantage which would become 86-76 at the end of the quarter.
The visitors poured it on in the final quarter, with Kyrie Irving taking over, officially putting the game into “blowout territory”, before KD finished things off down the stretch as well. The game was long over, but the “7-11 duo” weren’t finished, as a Durant three, an Irving trey, an alley-oop to Spencer Dinwidee, and another Kyrie triple put Brooklyn up 116-92, with just a few minutes remaining, and made sure that all 15 Nets could get playing time for the second straight game. When it was all set and done, the Nets had star seen their duo combined for 66 points(40 in the second half), and had become the first team to win their first two games by 20+ points since the 2009 championship Los Angeles Lakers.
Postgame, Celtics coach Brad Steven’s labeled the Nets the “Deepest team in the NBA”, and for good reason, as under all the KD/Kyrie madness, Jarret Allen came off the bench, and had 9 points, along with a game-high 11 rebounds, and four blocks, stymying the Boston attack.
The second half saw the hosts score 41 points, which was only one more point, then the Nets duo combined for in that span, prompting Celtics star Jaylen Brown to say they were “flat-footed” by the outburst over the final 48 minutes, and said it’s almost impossible to stop these guys once they get rolling. This tells you all you need to know, about how the guys on the other end were feeling, after that 11-2 run, as although only down eight, they knew right, then, and there this contest is over.
The red-hot Nets, have been playing “Free and easy”, with their almost unmatched talent from the coaching staff led by Steve Nash, the guys on the floor led by Durant, and Irving, as well as the bench led by future all-star, and early “Sixth man of the year” candidate, Caris Levert, who was the other player to reach double-digits in points with 10. Up next for these guys, in Sunday night road battle (12/27), against the young, and exciting Charlotte Hornets, led by Gordon Hayward.
Game-time is 7:00PMET
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