Nets eliminate Celtics in Game 5 rout

MANILA, Philippines — The Brooklyn Nets are the second team through to the second round of the NBA Playoffs after ousting the seventh-seeded Boston Celtics.

Seeking to give Boston the boot, the Nets leaned on their star trio of James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving to rout the Celtics in Game Five, 123-109, at the Barclays Center on Tuesday (Wednesday, Manila time).

They thus forge a matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks, who were waiting for the winner of the Brooklyn-Boston series after sweeping the Miami Heat, 4-0.

The Celtics showed signs of life early when they controlled the pace in the opening minutes of the game.

However, the Nets' starting unit was able to rebound quickly and erased the early deficit to end the opening salvo up seven, 31-24.

From that point on, Brooklyn didn't look back and maintained a comfortable lead throughout the 48-minute clash.

At one point, the Nets held on to a 22-point lead.

Harden paced the troika of stars with a triple-double of 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Irving and Durant, meanwhile, chipped in 25 and 24 points, respectively.

Jayson Tatum led the Celtics in the season-ending loss with 32 points.