NBA on TNT just aired the first game of its doubleheader tonight, and it all went down in Brooklyn. The top two teams in the Eastern Conference went head to head in Barclays Center. The Boston Celtics headed to Brooklyn with two of its starters, Al Horford and Jaylen Brown, sitting out. The Brooklyn Nets were also missing a player in their line-up tonight as Kevin Durant recovers from an MCL sprain.
To get the win tonight, Brooklyn needed Kyrie Irving to be the consistent player he’s been in the Nets’ recent resurgence in the standings. For Boston, relying on 1/2 of their superstar duo, Jayson Tatum, was the key. They also needed role players like Rob Williams, Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon to show up, and show out.
The latter prevailed.
In what was mostly a close match-up, across all four quarters, the Celtics were able to pull ahead after a hot start by the Nets. When it looked like the Nets could pull away, Tatum, who led the team with 20 points, executed efficiently, keeping the Celtics afloat. Marcus Smart finished with a double-double, after dishing out ten assists, on top of 16 points and 6 rebounds. Five other Celtics players also scored in double digits.
As expected, Kyrie led the Nets with 24 points while Ben Simmons contributed 13 assists on a night he went scoreless. Joe Harris, Royce O’Neale, Nic Claxton, T.J. Warren, Seth Curry, and Yuta Watanabe, all contributed points as well. But it just wasn’t enough to steal the win at home.
The Celtics finished the game with a big win, while maintaining the League’s best record, and winning their fifth straight game.
