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The Boston Celtics played without Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III and still handily beat the Brooklyn Nets 103-92 on Sunday night. Boston has now beaten Brooklyn eight straight times, including last postseason's 4-0 sweep of the Nets.
Behind the superstar duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics took the Nets’ best punch and still emerged as winners. The supposed rivalry between the two teams has practically been one-sided for almost a calendar year now.
After the game, Kendrick Perkins tweeted this:
“The Brooklyn Nets, KD and Kyrie need to be concerned because every single time they’ve matched up with Jaylen and Jayson, they getting cut everywhere but loose.
"This is a matchup that’s owned by the Jays. They look forward to playing against these guys. … There are certain guys that you got them and right now the Jays got that duo, they’re the better duo.”
The Brooklyn Nets started like a house on fire and rocked the Boston Celtics early with a 11-2 blast to open the game. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla refused to call a timeout to stop the bleeding and allow his squad to settle down.
Boston responded with a crippling 14-0 salvo to get back into the game. Jaylen Brown spearheaded the fightback by scoring 20 of his 34 points in that quarter. The Nets never regained the lead after losing it in the first quarter.
The Boston Celtics had just every answer for every run the Nets tried to mount throughout the game. The game was tied at 48-all with about four minutes left in the first half before Boston uncorked a blistering 14-2 run.
The same storyline happened in the fourth quarter when the Nets, behind Kevin Durant and Joe Harris, desperately tried to retake the lead. This time, it was Jayson Tatum who closed the door on the Nets. He had a personal 7-0 run, capped by a dagger 3 in Durant’s face to deflate Brooklyn’s last remaining hopes of a comeback.
The Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are arguably the best duo in the NBA
The Boston Celtics’ heartbreaking loss to the Golden State Warriors in last season's NBA Finals gave Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown a dose of reality. They weren’t just good enough yet to lead the Celtics to banner #18.
Both players repeatedly told the media in the offseason that all they ever want is to get back to the NBA Finals to redeem themselves. After Brooklyn's loss, Kevin Durant acknowledged how the Jays have improved.
Jayson Tatum is averaging career-high numbers in scoring (30.7 PPG), rebounds (8.1 RPG), field goal (48.1%.) and free throws (87.0%). Tatum has also been very aggressive in attacking the basket, averaging 8.4 trips to the free-throw line.
Jaylen Brown isn’t too far behind, particularly in his past 12 games. The Boston Celtics have bonafide 1A and 1B superstars on their roster.
Over the past 12 games, Brown is averaging 28.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He is hitting 56.6% of his shots, including 37.7% from deep.
If Tatum and Brown can keep this up, the Boston Celtics could find themselves in the NBA Finals again.
Guess the Lakers players!
