Basket Ball / Sports

Jayson Tatum scores 29 as Boston Celtics complete sweep of Brooklyn Nets

Jayson Tatum was stunned, yet certain. He disagreed with his sixth foul but had no doubt the Boston Celtics, with their rock-solid defense, would hold on without their scoring star.

“Couldn’t believe it at all, but I think that’s what we’re built for,” Tatum said.

They might be built for a championship.

Tatum scored 29 points, Jaylen Brown had 22 and the Celtics completed a four-game sweep of the Brooklyn Nets, becoming the first team to reach the second round of the playoffs with a 116-112 victory Monday night.

Marcus Smart added 20 points and 11 assists for the No. 2-seeded Celtics, who made easy work of what was thought could be a tough series. Boston will wait for the winner of the series between Milwaukee and Chicago, in which the defending champion Bucks hold a 3-1 lead.

The Celtics showed no fear of the Nets, who with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving didn’t have the profile of the typical low seed. Boston won on the final day of the regular season instead of losing to fall down the standings and avoid the matchup.

Turns out, there was no reason to worry.

“It’s funny to us, because we don’t duck and dodge anybody,” Smart said. “We knew what we were going to come in here and do.”

Durant had 39 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds, breaking free after the Celtics had defended him well in the first three games. But he couldn’t get the Nets the win they needed to extend what instead goes down as a massive failure of a season.

Expected to be an NBA Finals contender, the Nets needed a strong finish just to grab the No. 7 seed.

Seth Curry scored 23 points for the Nets. Irving, whose unavailability for home games much of the season because he isn’t vaccinated against the coronavirus contributed to the Nets’ performing so far below expectations, had 20 points.

“A lot of stuff that may factor into why we lose, but they were just a better team,” Durant said.…

Basket Ball / Sports

Durant, Nets rout 76ers in Simmons’ return to Philadelphia

The 76ers fans came to boo Ben Simmons. They left booing their own team.

Kevin Durant scored 18 of his 25 points in Brooklyn’s dominating first half in the Nets’ 129-100 blowout victory over the 76ers on Thursday night in Simmons’ much-hyped return to Philadelphia.

Seth Curry added 24 points, and Kyrie Irving had 22 for the Nets. They entered in eighth place in the East, but looked like a legitimate conference contender while badly outplaying the third-place 76ers.

Joel Embiid had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the 76ers, and James Harden finished with just 11 points. It was the first loss for Philadelphia in six games with Harden in the lineup.

The game was dubbed as ”Boo Ben” night, but the raucous fans instead turned their displeasure on the home team when the 76ers went to the locker room trailing 72-51 and again when Brooklyn built a stunning 32-point lead in the third quarter.

”I think all of us look at Ben as our brother,” Durant said. ”We knew this was a hostile environment. It’s hard to chant at Ben Simmons when you’re losing by that much.”

Simmons, wearing a designer hockey jersey and flashy jewelry, watched from the bench, likely taking delight in the vitriol deflected away from him. The three-time All-Star is continuing to recover from a back injury that has sidelined him since being swapped for Harden in a blockbuster deal at the trade deadline.

”We definitely felt like Ben was on our heart,” Irving said. ”If you come at Ben, you come at us.”

While Simmons hasn’t taken the floor yet, Harden had been a boon for the 76ers unlike his time in Brooklyn, where the so-called Big 3 of Harden, Durant and Irving managed to play just 16 games together following Harden’s trade to Brooklyn last January that was billed as a potentially championship move. Harden exchanged fist bumps with Nets staff members just before tip before a shockingly poor performance from the 10-time All-Star and former MVP.

Harden missed 14 of 17 …

Basket Ball / Sports

Nets escape with wild win over rival Knicks

Kevin Durant and the Nets survive a thriller against the Knicks

James Johnson hit the tiebreaking free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining as the host Brooklyn Nets blew a 16-point lead, survived a wild fourth quarter, and outlasted the New York Knicks for a 112-110 victory in front of a raucous crowd Tuesday night, November 30 (Wednesday, December 1, Manila time).

The game was tied at 110-110 after New York’s Evan Fournier hit a three-pointer over Bruce Brown with 17 seconds left. Brooklyn used its last timeout to advance the ball, and James Harden inbounded to Kevin Durant.

Durant held the ball for a few seconds, took about five dribbles and moved to his left near midcourt. After encountering a double-team, he passed to Johnson, who was fouled by Mitchell Robinson and then calmly sank the foul shots.

New York had one more chance, but Fournier’s 44-foot three-point try as time expired clanked off the front of the rim.

Johnson’s free throws gave Brooklyn its fifth win in six games and capped a final quarter that featured 10 lead changes.

Harden scored 28 of his 34 points in the first half to lead all scorers and Durant scored 11 of his 27 in the fourth quarter. Durant hit two free throws to give Brooklyn a 109-107 lead 27.5 seconds before Fournier’s three-pointer.

Alec Burks led the Knicks with 25 points and Julius Randle added 24 for New York, which shot 48.4%. Derrick Rose contributed 16 points and Fournier contributed 13.

Harden scored 15 points as the Nets overcame an eight-point deficit and ended the first quarter with a 33-28 lead. Harden surpassed 20 points with two free throws to give Brooklyn a 43-36 lead with 8:48 left in the half and Brooklyn held a 45-36 lead on a layup by Johnson on its next possession.

The Knicks held a 61-60 lead at intermission after Harden canned a triple with 3.5 seconds left. Brooklyn scored the first 14 points of the third quarter and held an 84-68 lead on a jumper

…
Basket Ball / Sports

Heat pull away to beat Nets 106-93

Bam Adebayo had 24 points and nine rebounds to lead the Miami Heat to a 106-93 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night.

Jimmy Butler added 17 points for Miami (3-1). P.J. Tucker finished with 15, and Tyler Herro and Dewayne Dedmon each contributed 14.

A preseason favorite to win the NBA championship, Brooklyn has alternated losses and wins through the first five games of the season and dropped to 2-3. Kevin Durant finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds.

”I like how we’re playing defense the last couple games,” Durant said. ”I like where our defense is trending. … I feel like we’re generating good shots. We’re just (not) knocking them down. If we continue to generate good shots we’ll put ourselves in good position.”

Joe Harris contributed 15 points on 5-for-15 shooting, including 5 for 11 from 3-point range. With his third 3-pointer of the game, Harris passed Jason Kidd as the franchise’s career leader in made 3-pointers.

James Harden had 14 points and Bruce Brown chipped in with 12.

The first of four regular-season matchups between the Eastern Conference rivals was a contrast in styles, the flashy, up-tempo, high-scoring Nets against a physical Heat squad.

Despite forcing the Nets to play a possession-by-possession game for much of the first half, the Heat trailed 51-49 at the half. Miami had outscored Brooklyn in the paint (30-20), had more second-chance points (15-2), and had a decided edge in rebounds (35-25).

”We have a bunch of like-minded guys,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. ”(That’s) the way those guys are hard-wired.”

What the Heat did not have, though, was the tandem of Durant and Harden, who combined for 25 of Brooklyn’s 51 points in the half. Durant also grabbed eight rebounds while Harden added three boards and three assists.

Miami stayed with its approach and it paid dividends in the third quarter, as the Heat outscored the Nets 32-23 and took an 81-74 lead into the fourth. The Heat extended their lead to 88-77 before Brooklyn used a 7-2 spurt to …

Basket Ball / Sports

Bucks begin title defense with 127-104 victory over Nets

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks didn’t let the celebration of the franchise’s first NBA championship in half a century distract them as they opened their title defense.

In his first game since scoring 50 points in a title-clinching Game 6 NBA Finals victory over the Phoenix Suns, Antetokounmpo had 32 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Bucks to a 127-104 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night.

”We’re part of history,” Antetokounmpo said. ”I’m excited. But now it’s over with. We’ve got to focus on building good habits, keep moving forward and keep playing good basketball and hopefully we can repeat this again this year, next year and all the years that we’re going to be here down the road.”

Khris Middleton and Pat Connaughton each added 20 points to help the Bucks withstand the loss of Jrue Holiday, who sat out the second half with a bruised right heel after scoring 12 points. Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said MRI results on Holiday were encouraging.

Kevin Durant led the Nets with 32 points and 11 rebounds. Patty Mills scored 21 points and shot 7 of 7 from 3-point range. James Harden added 20 points.

”We weren’t very good,” Brooklyn coach Steve Nash said. ”If you’re not playing at a high level against the champs, you’re not going to win.”

The Nets were missing star guard Kyrie Irving, who isn’t with the team due to his refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

A New York mandate requires professional athletes on local teams to be vaccinated to practice or play in public venues. Rather than using Irving exclusively in road games, the Nets decided he wouldn’t play or practice with them at all until he could be a full participant.

After receiving their rings, raising a banner and watching a highlight video of their first NBA championship since 1971, the Bucks defeated the team that nearly eliminated them in the second round of the playoffs. Antetokounmpo acknowledged that he teared up a little bit during the pregame …

Basket Ball / Sports

Durant scores 49 as Brooklyn Nets take 3-2 series lead against Milwaukee Bucks

Kevin Durant scored 49 points as the Brooklyn Nets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 114-108 to take a 3-2 lead in their Eastern Conference semi-final series.

Durant also came up with 17 rebounds and 10 assists to inspire victory after the Nets were 17 points down in the third quarter.

He hit a three-pointer and three free throws late on to seal the win.

Nets coach Steve Nash said Durant’s display “makes him one of the all-time greats”.

Milwaukee’s two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, who top-scored for the Bucks with 34 points, called Durant “the best player in the world right now”.

LeBron James, widely regarded as one of basketball’s finest players of all time, also praised Durant on social media.

In what Nets coach Nash said would go down as one of Durant’s “signature” games, the power forward played all 48 minutes, shot 16-of-23 from the floor and finished just shy of his play-off career high of 50 points.

It did, however, set a franchise record for points in a play-off game, surpassing Vince Carter’s mark of 43 points set 15 years ago.

He also posted his second career post-season triple-double and joined Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson, Charles Barkley and Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic as the fourth player with at least 40 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in a play-off game.

The Nets relied heavily on Durant in game five of their best-of-seven series after Kyrie Irving was injured in the previous game and James Harden had a quiet night on his return from injury.…