The Nets got a reminder just how big the gap is between themselves and the NBA’s best. Far too big for them to spot a team that good a lead that big.
Brooklyn dug itself a hole and fell, 118-110, to the league-leading Celtics Tuesday before a sellout crowd of 18,053 at Barclays Center.
They got eviscerated by superstar Jayson Tatum, watching helplessly as he torched them for 31 of his game-high 41 points in the first half.
They listened as the crowd — their crowd — showered him with chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!”
Not that Tatum isn’t a worthy MVP candidate, but their own blown assignments and busted defense made him look like one.
“[There were] multiple things we could have done,” Mikal Bridges said. “I think just personally we were just messing up our coverages defensively as a team, so a lot of them going and slipping out to the rim. Everywhere it was 3s, dunks, getting out in transition, getting wide-open ones, getting free dunks and stuff.
Jayson Tatum, who scored a game-high 41 points, shoots a layup over Nic Claxton during the Nets’ 118-110 loss to the Celtics. Jason Szenes / New York Post“So we just gotta be better and knowing what we’re doing. The players gotta know what we got to do out there.”
Tatum made himself at home in the Nets’ building. And when they tried to claw back, they never had answers to stop him.
Now comes the hard part, the return leg of this back-to-back Wednesday night at TD Garden.
Mikal Bridges, who scored a game-high 27 points, goes up for a layup during the Nets’ loss. Jason Szenes / New York PostBrooklyn (21-32) trailed by as much as 23 in the third quarter before clawing within six multiple times in the fourth.
But they couldn’t get over the hump and finished the home-heavy portion of their schedule on a downer. They failed to fatten up on home cooking, and now have to head out on the road with the toughest test imaginable.
The Nets finished just 6-12 in an 18-game stretch in which they have played 13 home games. Now they’ll have to play 14 of their next 20 on the road.
Lonnie Walker IV, who scored 15 points, looks to put up a shot as Luke Kornet defends during the Nets’ loss. Jason Szenes / New York PostTuesday showed the gap separating the teams.
“Time, chemistry,” Ben Simmons said. “They’ve been together for a while, so they’ve got it figured out. They’re a great team. Obviously No. 1 in the East. So it’s a good test for us.”
Tatum had given Boston s 93-70 cushion on a running dunk off a feed from Jaylen Brown with 4:19 left in the third quarter. But the Nets spent the rest of the evening giving chase, and nearly caught them.
Ben Simmons, who had five points and eight assists, dribbles the ball up court during the Nets’ loss. Jason Szenes / New York PostIt was 98-80 after a Luke Kornet free throw with a minute left in the period when Brooklyn mounted a 13-1 run that spanned the third and fourth. Bridges’ dunk off a Thomas assist capped the run and cut the deficit to 99-93 with 7:55 left.
But Brooklyn never got any closer.
Bridges drilled a 3-pointer off a feed by Jalen Wilson to cut it to six again, 114-108 with 2:07 to play, but Boston held them at arm’s length the rest of the way.
The Celtics (42-12) are 16-6 over their past 22 and now have their fifth five-game winning streak of the season.
“It was interesting. [Tatum] got a couple of 3s. Three 3s he got, one was a foul, two were off pick-and-rolls with Day’Ron [Sharpe] in there,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “So it’ll be interesting to watch it again. These high-level guys, once they get going, we started to trap him a little bit, but they have so much shooting out there. It’ll be interesting to watch it again and see what kind of adjustments we can make.”
