Celtics' defense finding a way to shut down Kevin Durant, Nets
By Yaron Weitzman
FOX Sports NBA Writer
I feel comfortable saying that entering Game 2 on Wednesday, Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash was confident about at least one thing: Kevin Durant would find his groove.
"That's just the nature of top-top players," he told reporters during his pregame media session. "It's very hard for them to have two bad games. The motivation increases when they don't have their best outing, you know. … It's normal for a top player, when they have a bad game, to have a big game the next night."
Durant was limited to 23 points on 24 shots in the Nets’ Game 1 loss to the Boston Celtics. The Celtics also coaxed him into six turnovers. It was, by some statistical measures, the worst playoff performance of Durant’s 15-year career.
Yes, the Celtics’ defense has smothered opponents all season — the unit finished the regular season No. 1 in defensive rating — but, well, this is Kevin Durant. He’s basically what you’d get if you took, I don’t know, let’s say Klay Thompson, Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant and melded their skills together in a lab.
Which is to say: There is no defense for him.
Or at least that’s what most of us thought entering this first-round series. The Celtics, however, are proving that sentiment wrong. It turns out there is a defense for Durant if you boast the blend of size, skills and scheme that these Celtics do. Because not only did Durant not bounce back from his Game 1 struggles, but also in Game 2 — which ended in a 114-107 Celtics win — he actually played worse.
Durant finished with 27 points and five assists, but those numbers overstate his impact. For one, he misfired on 13 of his 17 shots. He went 0-for-10 in the second half, marking the first time in his career that he attempted at least 10 shots in a half and didn’t make a single one. He coughed the ball up six times, with a few of them coming when he lost control of his handle mid-dribble.
You know the scene in "Space Jam" when the aliens streak up into Patrick Ewing’s nose, and a few moments later he dribbles a ball off his foot? That’s about what Durant looked like.
"They’re doing a good job of trying to cut off my scoring, trying to limit my shot-making," he said after the game.
The Celtics suffocated Durant with the same game plan from Game 1. They made him work hard to get the ball, staying glued to his chest, bumping and shoving him whenever possible and fronting him while providing help from behind.
"I think they’re being physical, up and into him, grabbing him, holding him," Nash said after the game.
"[They’re] mucking up actions when I run off stuff," Durant added. "I see [Al] Horford leaving his man to come over to hit me sometimes. Two or three guys hit me wherever I go."
And that’s all before he even gets the ball, which normally requires him drifting high above the 3-point. From there, the Celtics have elected to pull every help defender not guarding Kyrie Irving or Seth Curry into the paint and wall off Durant’s path to the rim.
In Game 1, Irving was able to take advantage of some of the attention directed to Durant, going off for 39 points. What was then so impressive about the Celtics’ performance in Game 2 is that this time, they were able to blanket Irving as well. Irving was limited to 10 points on an ice-cold 4-for-13 shooting, most of which were tough pull-ups with a hand in his face inside the 3-point arc.
The Celtics’ strategy has exposed the Nets by taking advantage of their top-heavy roster. This, of course, is the downside of selling out on star-chasing. You’re left to be overly reliant on your stars (both Irving and Durant averaged more than 41 minutes per game in the second half of the season) while praying for throwback performances from vets such as Goran Dragic or career games from role players such as Bruce Brown.
Both are capable in spurts, as we saw in Game 2; Brown finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and Dragic recorded 18 points in 20 minutes. But if you’re in a brutal playoff battle and find yourself needing just a bit more from them, well, you’re probably in trouble.
(Side note: The Nets’ struggles this series are showing why they thought it was important to chase James Harden last season. The Celtics’ strategy would not work if the Nets had a third offensive anchor capable of carving up a defense.)
But this isn’t all on the Nets. This is also a Celtics group that won 33 of its final 43 regular-season games and transformed itself into one of the stingiest defenses in recent league history. As TNT’s Stan Van Gundy said multiple times during the game Wednesday, "I’ve never seen a team defend Kevin Durant this well." In other words: This is, clearly, a championship-level team playing championship-level basketball.
After all, it’s one thing to slow Durant down. But to leave him looking befuddled? That’s an entirely different level, and I’m not sure there’s another team in the league that could pull this defense off. It’s not just Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart. It’s also Jayson Tatum, who’s a first-team All-Defense-level performer himself.
Jaylen Brown is long and strong and fast. Grant Williams can guard multiple positions. Horford has seemingly discovered the Fountain of Youth — and this is all with Robert Williams, one of the league’s premier rim-protectors and switchiest big men, out due to a knee injury. The combination of size and speed means the Celtics can switch basically every screen, allowing them to avoid scramble situations and rotations.
"When you can play a simple defense, like switch everything, and then you got length like they got, sit in the paint, basically playing a zone, so it's easier for every player," Durant said when asked about Celtics rookie head coach Ime Udoka’s scheme. "You ain't gotta chase over screens. You don't have to just fight over stuff. You can use your length, sit in the lane and help and execute the game plan. When you simplify the game, it makes it easier for players, and I think that's what Ime did."
Are there any adjustments the Nets can make? We can assume that Durant will bury a few more jumpers, so that should help. As would the reportedly imminent return of Ben Simmons.
But honestly, I’m not sure how much we can expect from Durant, and I know that relying on a player who hasn’t suited up all season and has struggled in the playoffs before is not a recipe for success.
Past those prayers, I’m not sure what options the Nets have. Some in the NBA Twitter universe are criticizing Steve Nash and calling for more off-ball movement; to me, this ignores the way the Celtics are mauling Durant when he doesn’t have the ball.
The Nets bet everything on star power and individual talent, and the presence of two transcendent stars means we can’t write the team’s obituary yet. But we can certainly start drafting it.
And this, I think, is what I’ll go with: Here lie the KD-and-Kyrie Brooklyn Nets, the would-be champs who needed more help.
Yaron Weitzman is an NBA writer for FOX Sports and the author of "Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports." Follow him on Twitter @YaronWeitzman.