76ers Playoff Watch: Brooklyn Nets Collect Comfortable Win vs. Celtics in Game 2
With a second-straight night off from games, the Philadelphia 76ers could sit back and watch the Eastern Conference playoff picture play out once again. On Monday, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat engaged in a Game 2 battle, where the Bucks destroyed the 2020 Eastern Conference Champions with ease.
On Tuesday, the Brooklyn Nets hosted the Boston Celtics for Game 2, and we saw a similar result to Monday's outing. Brooklyn's offense came out on fire Tuesday night. Although they allowed the Celtics to collect 26 points in the first quarter, the Nets nearly doubled that with 40 points.
It wasn't Brooklyn's big three of James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving that led the charge early on either. Instead, it was Joe Harris who put up 16 first-quarter points as he hit on six of his seven shots from the field, knocking down all four of his three-point attempts.
In the second quarter, Harden took over from there. Leading the Nets with 10 second-quarter points, Harden helped Brooklyn outscore the Celtics by 10, allowing Brooklyn to get a mighty comfortable 71-47 lead over the Celtics at halftime.
Early on in the third quarter is was evident that Tuesday was not the Celtics' night. Three minutes into the third, Celtics star Jayson Tatum left the game after getting poked in the eye. He left the court for good after a lousy shooting night, going 3-12 from the field and totaling for nine points.
From that point on, it was smooth sailing for the Nets, who started clearing the bench to get their key players some rest ahead of Game 3. When the second half finally concluded, Brooklyn took a two-game lead by picking up a 130-108 victory over Boston. Although the Celtics will get a lift by heading home to host the Nets for Game 3, they look like a team that could be on the verge of getting swept in round one.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.
