For the first time in nearly 15 months, the Boston Celtics played in front of a full capacity crowd at TD Garden on Sunday night. That didn’t seem to bother Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, or James Harden however. The superstar trio combined for 104 points to lead the Brookyln Nets to a convincing 141-126 win over Boston in Game 4 of a first round playoff series. Brooklyn now leads the best of seven 3-1.
Boston, playing without Kemba Walker and Robert Williams III due to injury, used the momentum from their Game 3 win to grab an early lead. Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum both knocked in three-pointers for the first six points of the game, and the hosts lead by eight several times in the first 12 minutes. Durant and Irving scored 29 of the Nets first 33 points, but the green held a 34-33 advantage after one. Brooklyn scored the first basket of the second quarter for their first lead, and the Celtics never led again. A Joe Harris three-pointer gave the guests their largest lead of the first half 71-55, taking a 13 point bulge into the halftime break. It was the largest lead of the game of 27 late in their third as the Nets continued to pull away, with the final margin of 15 the closest Boston would be in the second half.
Tatum, after his playoff best 50 point effort in Game 3, would score 40 in the loss. He added seven rebounds and five assists and was a perfect 17-17 at the foul line. He also becomes to first Celtics player in history to score 40 or more points in back to back playoff games. Marcus Smart and Evan Fournier had 16 points a piece, with Smart hauling in six rebounds and dishing out nine assists. Rookie Payton Pritchard had 12, Aaron Nesmith 11, and Jabari Parker had 10. Durant had 42 points in the win for Brooklyn shooting 14-20 from the floor (3-3 three-pointers) and 11-11 at the line, and also adding in four rebounds and five assists. Irving had a double double with 39 points and 11 rebounds. Harden also had a big game as the floor leader scoring 23 points with 18 assists. Game 5 back at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn is scheduled for Tuesday night at 7:30.
