Durant-less Nets show promise even in loss to Celtics

NEW YORK – Different circumstances, same result. 

Life without Kevin Durant began for the Brooklyn Nets with another 11-point loss, 109-98, to their rival Boston Celtics Thursday night (Friday, Manila time) at the Barclays Center. 

The Celtics' size continued to torment the Nets in a similar fashion to their first meeting of the season — a 102-93 Boston win — and the first-round playoff sweep last season. 

It was evenly matched from the start, with the Celtics missing Jaylen Brown, too, with right adductor tightness. But Boston pulled away in the final quarter as the Nets deviated from what worked earlier when they kept up with the Celtics in lockstep. 

The ball stopped moving as Kyrie Irving went rogue, trying to beat his former team with the hero ball to no avail. The remaining Nets superstar shot a measly 3-for-10 in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn only had two assists in the final 12 minutes after issuing 24 in the first 36 minutes. 

“The first three quarters felt like I had some good rhythmic shots going,” Irving said. “In the fourth, I just wanted to be aggressive.”

But doing so killed the Nets’ chances of any comeback as the Celtics' defense swarmed him. 

Nets coach Jacque Vaughn spoke about not putting much pressure on Irving to carry the team in Durant’s absence. But Irving put it upon himself when the Celtics started running away at the onset of the fourth quarter. 

A Luke Kornet layup off a Marcus Smart assists capped a 12-0 Celtics run in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter that broke the game wide open. 

Kornet, the Celtics' backup big, finished with 11 points, his first double-digit scoring in more than one month, which was emblematic of the Nets' problem all game long. 

The Nets got outrebounded by 17, and as a result, they were pummeled in second-chance points, 14-4, and were gobbled up inside the paint, 54-40. 

Ben Simmons, who was expected to step up offensively in Durant’s absence, laid a big fat egg. The 6-foot-10 former All-Star missed all three attempts, including a post-up move against Kornet in the second half. But to his credit, he had 13 assists, nine rebounds, two steals and a block, becoming the 18th player in NBA history to have a scoreless game with at least 13 dimes. Despite Simmon’s scoring futility, the Nets outscored the Celtics by 10 points when he was on the floor. 

Vaughn staggered Irving and Simmons’ playing time in the first three quarters, surrounding Simmons with four shooters, while Irving played with only one non-shooter in starting center Nic Claxton. 

It worked as they kept the game close. 

The Celtics made their run at the start of the fourth quarter when Irving, Simmons and Claxton were all on the floor. After Simmons missed a layup and turned the ball over in consecutive plays at the height of the Boston run, Vaughn pulled him out and never returned. 

Desperate to chase a Celtics’ 10-point lead with three minutes left, Vaughn went small and pulled Claxton, too, for another shooter. His gamble did not pay off. 

“I love that we had 34 [3-pointers] up, [but] I don’t like that we were 12-for-32 from midrange,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “That’s just inefficient. With Kevin [Durant] taking 32 midrange [shots], we can roll with that. But the other guys, that’s not the basket we want to fit in. We take 10 more 3s or 15 more 3s, and I love it. But those shots are inefficient. You end up being 12 of 32. That’s why you have 16 points in the fourth.” 

The Nets were the best shooting team in the NBA this season with Durant. They shot a league bottom-five 45% from the field in their first game without him. 

They went 6-of-19 from the floor in the pivotal fourth quarter, including 1-of-5 from midrange and 2-of-5 from the 3-point zone. 

Irving was 1-of-3 from midrange and missed all three 3-point attempts. 

The Celtics used a balanced attack to cover for Brown’s absence and stymie the Durant-less Nets. 

Jayson Tatum led six Boston players in double figures with 20 points. 

The Nets tried to keep in step, with Irving leading five players in double figures with 24 points. But it took him 24 shots to get there. 

T.J. Warren tried to fill Durant’s shoes with 20 points off the bench, while Joe Harris had a season-high 18 points as a starter. 

But in the end, too much hero ball and their lack of size eventually caught up with them. 

The Nets lost 16 of 21 games last season when they lost Durant to another MCL injury. But their first game without him this season, despite ending in a loss, showed so much promise that they’re better equipped to weather the storm this time. 

They went toe-to-toe against the Eastern Conference leader without Durant. 

All they need to do is tweak their shot diet, which Vaughn noted, as they continue to move on with their life without Durant in the next month or so. 

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Alder Almo is a former senior sportswriter for Philstar.com and NBA.com Philippines. He is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey, and writes for the New York-based sports website empiresportsmedia.com.