The Brooklyn Nets squandered a 17-point lead in Game 2 against the Celtics and struggled to score at all in the fourth quarter, allowing Boston to take a commanding 2-0 series lead on Wednesday night.
The Nets will now need to complete a historically unlikely comeback. In the Celtics’ storied history, the team is 40-1 all-time when leading a series 2-0.
According to ESPN’s Jay Williams, a major difference in the series is coaching ability. Williams lauded Celtics coach Ime Udoka’s defensive plan to contain Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving – who combined for just 37 points in Game 2.
Williams pointed out that Udoka’s schemes were strengthened by the fact that the Nets ran the same offensive sets over and over – a product of Nash’s “inability” to adjust on the fly.
“The plan was a masterpiece by coach Udoka. You know what the plan was on the opposite side? It was the demise of a decision by both KD and Kyrie to have Steve Nash as their coach.
I’ve said it multiple times on this show. So many people around the league have talked about Steve Nash’s inability for in-game adjusting. And we saw that in their offense so many times in the second half. It was just… they were so stagnant. The ball died in either KD or Kyrie’s hands. Nobody was moving off the ball. And that’s when you talk about Boston going on a 23-4 run in the fourth quarter and coming back.
This comes down to coaching, to me. There needs to be schemes that are put in place for these guys to be the best version of themselves. But at the end of the day, KD and Kyrie were the ones that stamped Steve Nash to be that guy.”
[mm-video type=video id=01g14nqpfvabz6wmqm8n playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g14nqpfvabz6wmqm8n/01g14nqpfvabz6wmqm8n-6fcaec453941fda56438122b790ba9fd.jpg]
[listicle id=44611]