The Boston Celtics certainly make a big statement in their Eastern Conference First Round Playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets. In what many believed would be a very long best of seven matchup, the Celtics would build a 15 point third quarter lead and then held on in Game 4 on Monday night to sweep away the Nets with a 116-112 victory at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Boston never trailed in the game. The Celtics led by as many as 10 in the first quarter at 22-12 on a three point play by Derrick White, and by four at 30-26 at the end of the opening 12 minutes. A Seth Curry jumper early in the second for Brooklyn tied it at 30-30, before a Marcus Smart three-pointer finished off a 15-6 run to give the green a nine point advantage with just under five minutes left in the first half. The Nets then cut it to one with a run of their own of 8-0, before the Celtics scored 13 of the final 19 points of the second that included a late Grant Williams three-pointer for a 58-50 lead at the break.
With Boston leading 71-66 with 6:42 left in the third quarter, they went on yet another run this time of 19-9 capped off with a basket by White to make it 90-75. The Celtics took a 90-78 lead to the fourth. Brooklyn cut it to six on several occasions early in the fourth quarter, before a Smart three-pointer pushed it back to 10 with 6:54 left to play. With Jayson Tatum in foul trouble, the Nets made one more strong push to try to continue their season. Goran Dragic came off the bench and made a nice driving layup, and then nailed a three-pointer on the next possession to cut it to 102-99. After the C’s went back up six, Tatum would foul out with 2:49 remaining and a three-pointer by Kyrie Irving along with a Kevin Durant jumper would make it a one point game. Jaylen Brown responded for Boston with a driving finger roll with 1:02 to go. Durant had a chance to tie it but missed a three-pointer, but Brooklyn had another chance after the Celtics came up empty. Durant was fouled and hit the first of two free throws to make it 111-109 with 22 seconds showing on the clock. After Brown grabbed the rebound off the miss, Smart missed a driving layup on the other end but Al Horford was in the right spot to scoop it up and put it back in. Smart put it away with two free throws with seven seconds left after another Nets miss.
Tatum would lead the way with 29 points, three rebounds, and five assists. Brown had 22 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Smart put in 20 points, also adding five rebounds and a game high 11 assists. Grant Williams finished with 14 points, and Horford contributed 13 points and six rebounds. Durant had alot more offensive success in the loss than the previous three games with 31 shot attempts (13-31), finishing with a game high 39 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists. Curry had 23 points (5-9 three-pointers), while Irving finished up with 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Brooklyn center Nic Claxton hit just 1-11 from the foul line in the game, as his team ended up shooting 17-29 from the charity stripe. Bostons four wins were by a combined total of 18 points. The Nets, who were one of the NBA Championship contenders at the start of the season, finish up with a record of 44-42. Boston is now 55-31 will play either the Miwaukee Bucks or Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Currently the Bucks lead that series 3-1.
