Recap: Tatum’s 32 Points Not Enough, Nets Win 123-109, Take Series in 5 Games
Brad Penner | USA TODAY Sports
James Harden tallied his fourth career playoff triple-double with 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists as the Brooklyn Nets advanced to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. They secured Game 5 with a 123-109 victory over the Boston Celtics.
The Nets will face the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semifinals. The Bucks swept the Miami Heat in their first-round series.
Jayson Tatum led the short-handed Celtics with 32 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Evan Fournier added 18 points and Romeo Langford chipped in 17 points in his second career playoff start. He started in place of the injured Kemba Walker. Boston also played without center Robert Williams III and guard Jaylen Brown, who was out due to season-ending wrist surgery.
Brooklyn got 25 points from former Celtic Kyrie Irving and 24 from Kevin Durant as the Nets won the series 4-1.
Brooklyn used a hot start from Harden (11 points) and Irving (nine) in the first quarter to lead 31-24 after one. Tatum had seven points and Langford scored five in the quarter. Boston led 8-2 after a Langford layup before Harden and the Nets got going. Boston held the lead for most of the quarter until Tyler Johnson made a three-point field goal to give the Nets their first lead of the game at 22-21. They would not trail again. Irving made a three-pointer to close out the first-quarter scoring.
Jabari Parker gave the Celtics a lift in the second by pouring in 11 points to keep them within striking distance. The Nets got balanced scoring from Harden with seven points, Irving with six, and Joe Harris and Landry Shamet with 5 points each. Brooklyn led 59-51 at halftime.
Tatum, Langford, and Smart tried to keep the Celtics close in the third period. Tatum had nine points as he struggled shooting (12-27 from the floor). Smart and Langford had six points each to counter the Nets’ balanced quarter output. Durant scored seven, Bruce Brown had six, and Irving added five points. The Nets ended the period with an 86-79 lead heading into what would be the final quarter of the season for the Celtics.
Evan Fournier found his touch and scored nine points as he and Tatum (12 in the fourth) tried to keep Boston afloat. The Nets then got consecutive three-point shots from Durant, Irving, and Harden to put a 97-88 lead out to 106-91 with 6:15 left in the game. Another Brooklyn 8-2 mini-run made the score 120-98 with 3:19 left in the contest before the Nets pulled the starters.
The Nets advance to Round 2, and the Celtics got sent packing. Boston went through a tough season full of injuries, COVID, and overall turbulence. Hopefully, the offseason will provide a nice little reset for the team to recoup, regroup, and re-focus.
