NEW YORK — It was Kevin Durant himself who asked the first question at Tuesday’s post-game press conference: “Yo, what was Bruce Brown saying as he got up here?”
Forty-five minutes after the Brooklyn Nets finished seventh with a 115-108 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the play-in opener, Durant said his teammate “said something I didn’t like. Someone just told me.”
The quote that angered Durant came in answer to an innocuous question: What’s the key to slowing down the Boston Celtics in the first round?
“I mean, we can’t let it happen [Jayson] Tatum turns 50, we have to be with him physically,” Brown said. Then came the part that Durant would have preferred to have left unsaid: “Now they don’t have Robert Williams [III]so they are less present in the color and we can attack Al Horford and [Daniel] Theis. Not having Robert Williams is huge.”
“All right, man,” Durant said. “It’s probably caffeine. He takes something before the game. The two guys can do the same thing.
When a reporter asked Durant about their upcoming opponents, he kept it simple: Brooklyn needs to stay disciplined, play together, and play with passion. Rather than talk about strategies the Nets could use against Tatum, he said they just have to play hard and “see what happens.”
Durant didn’t seem angry at Brown. The mood was on, man.
“We respect our opponents,” Durant said. “You don’t have to talk about it, you know what we’re going to do to them. I just don’t like that, you know? But that’s just how Bruce is. You know, he comes in and says that. He keeps the same energy throughout the season, so.
“But no reason to say that shit. Let’s just go out there and hoops.”
It’s unclear if Durant and Brown are at odds over the Nets’ chances in their first-round series or just what they should and shouldn’t tell the media. However, it’s fitting that after one game — and one regular season — Brooklyn expressed both confidence and caution, which provided plenty of reasons for both.
The Nets led 40-20 at the end of the first quarter, then scored eight points over the next 10.5 minutes. They were up as much as 22 in the third quarter, only for Cleveland to catch up to six in the fourth quarter.
It’s great for Brooklyn that Nicolas Claxton and Andre Drummond have a combined 29 points and 17 rebounds on 13-for-17 shooting, but it’s not ideal to have guards Seth Curry, Patty Mills and Goran Dragic have nine points and one combined Achieve assist on 3-for-12 shoots. The balance it took to finish off the Cavs would have been more impressive if the Nets hadn’t wasted a huge lead against the same team in the same arena four days earlier. At least they didn’t fall behind this time.
Cleveland was an elite defensive team for much of the regular season, but its success relied on All-Star Jarrett Allen and Rookie of the Year hopeful Evan Mobley holding on to the paint. The Cavs’ version that hit Brooklyn at Barclays Center wasn’t nearly as stifling, and the Celtics are about as stifling as it gets. Boston is also clearly superior offensively. If the Nets needed 42 minutes each from Durant and Kyrie Irving on Tuesday to survive, what does it take to compete with the Celtics on Sunday?
Durant is right: it’s not going to be easy. Brown is also right: It would be much harder if Boston started the series with a healthy Williams. Their mileage may depend on how vulnerable Horford and Theis are defensively, but neither of them can cover ground, block shots or catch lobs like Williams does. For months, the Celtics’ defense looked nearly flawless with Williams on the ground; Now there are at least a few pressure points for Brooklyn to poke at.
Cleveland played what Nets coach Steve Nash described as an “extreme” defensive style. It stayed connected to Curry and Mills, completely sold out against Brown, Claxton, Drummond and Kessler Edwards, and sent additional defenders to Durant and Irving.
“Sometimes we did great and punished them,” Nash said, citing Brown’s performance with 18 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and the efficiency of the big ones. “Moved the ball, played well and stuck to our principles for a long time to give us that 20-point lead.” Nash then admitted that they “didn’t play our best basketball after that.”
Brown noted he was “flirting with a triple-double” again — he had 18 points, eight assists and 10 rebounds against the Cavs last Friday — and laughed. “I’m just making the right game, that’s all,” he said. The game is easy for him when the defense leaves him open, grabs the color and allows him to catch the ball with an advantage. Brown chalked up Cleveland’s comeback to Brooklyn’s “carefree passes,” saying that he’s “not overly concerned about it.”
Please check the opt-in box to confirm that you wish to subscribe.
Thanks for registering!
Keep an eye on your inbox.
We’re sorry!
There was an error processing your subscription.
Irving made his first 12 shots and finished with 34 points in 12-for-15 shooting plus 12 assists. Durant had 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting and 11 assists. A lot of those were tough looks, some across multiple defenders, and the Nets would prefer not to rely on their superstars to save them. However, her ability to do so is why Brooklyn should still inspire a healthy level of fear. Even if Boston’s switching shuts down most of the Nets’ pretty stuff, it has to deal with Durant and Irving in isolation. When they’re hitting contested shots over fully extended arms, there’s not much anyone can do.
On the one hand, Brooklyn won its last four regular-season games, took care of play-in business, and might get Ben Simmons back sometime in the first round. On the flip side, Simmons hasn’t played all season, Curry is playing with an injured ankle, and Nash is still talking about building cohesion and learning how to play together in the postseason.
Boston now knows exactly what his identity is and what the Nets are trying to do. His coach, Ime Udoka, was on Nash’s staff last season.
“It’s going to be a big challenge for us,” Nash said. “For a new group playing a side like this that’s great on both ends, hopefully it will bring out the best in us.”
And the Celtics don’t have Williams. That’s huge.