The Nets have solidified their spot in the NBA playoffs, clinching the seventh seed and a first-round matchup against the Celtics after beating the Cavaliers 115–108 in Tuesday night’s play-in game. But Kevin Durant isn’t happy about how one of his teammates gave their opponents bulletin board material.
Nets forward Bruce Brown talked after the game about what his team can do to win the battle against Boston. The key, in his opinion, is to take advantage of the Celtics not having injured center Robert Williams on the court.
“Now they don’t have Robert Williams, so they have less of a presence in the paint,” Brown said. “We can attack [Daniel] Theis and [Al] Horford in the paint. Them not having Robert Williams is huge.”
Brown’s public reveal on how he thinks they should attack Boston rubbed Durant the wrong way. Durant, whose postgame press conference was after Brown’s, decided to give his thoughts on Brown’s answer when he sat down.
“That’s caffeine pride talking,” Durant said. “Those two dudes [Horford and Theis] can do the same stuff [as Williams]. They ain’t going to be that easy, I can tell you that.
“We respect our opponents. We don’t need to talk about what we’re going to do to them. I didn’t like that. ... We don’t need to say s--- like that. Let’s just go out there and hoop.“
The Celtics and Nets met four times previously this season, with Boston winning three of those matchups. The only game Brooklyn won was on Nov. 24, months before the blockbuster trade that sent James Harden and Paul Millsap to Philadelphia, while the Nets picked up Ben Simmons (who has yet to play), Seth Curry and Andre Drummond.
Brooklyn will face the Celtics in Game 1 on Sunday.
