Game 2 Loss to the Celtics Has the Nets Grasping at Straws

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The clock ticked towards zero and along the Nets sideline, two future Hall of Famers with more than 200 playoff games between them looked shook.

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This was a game Brooklyn had to win. Needed to win. Should have won. A 10-point halftime lead. Help from the supporting cast.

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A Celtics defense that in the first half allowed the Nets to shoot 61%. A team with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving would have to kick the game away to lose this one.

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The Nets shot 31% in the second half. Durant, in those final 24 minutes, didn’t make a field goal. Irving, lustily booed for the second game in a row, finished 4-of-13.

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Durant and Irving rank among the NBA’s most feared fourth-quarter scorers. Boston throttled the Nets 29–17 over the final 12 minutes.

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Brooklyn was the NBA’s boogeyman. Two games against the Celtics and the Nets have been exposed. Durant looks tired.

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He averaged 41 minutes per game in the final five games of the regular season. He logged 42 in the play-in game.

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