For Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics — currently trailing the Brooklyn Nets 1-0 in their best-of-7 series — it’s back to the drawing board in preparation for Game 2, and one Celtics player is already showing the utmost confidence in his head coach’s gameplan ahead of Tuesday’s matchup.
In a 104-93 win over the Celtics, Saturday, the Nets’ offensive triple-threat — Kevin Durant (32), Kyrie Irving (29), and James Harden (21) — went full-throttle; astonishingly combining for 82 points, which was only 11 points shy of the Celtics’ point total on the night.
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Kudos to the Celtics’ defense for limiting the Nets to slightly over 100 points (104) — which is 14 fewer points compared to Brooklyn’s season-average (118.6), per Teamrankings.com — but, if the Celtics plan to tie the series before heading back to Boston, they’re going to have to put more points up on the board.
Jayson Tatum, who finished with a team-high 22 points for the Celtics, missed every field goal he attempted throughout the second half while Marcus Smart chipped in 17 points, and Kemba Walker finished with 15. Coach Stevens, who was in dire need of secondary scoring, turned to Jabari Parker, off the bench.
Jabari Parker On Celtics Making Their Offense as ‘Complicated as Possible’
Finishing with 9 points, four rebounds in 22 minutes, Parker proved himself to be a spark off of Stevens’ bench. Now Jabari, who spoke during media availability Sunday, believes while he understands how overwhelmingly talented the star-studded Nets are, Boston needs to do a better job of matching Brooklyn’s energy if they plan on beating the Nets in Game 2.
“Those guys have a lot of credibilities and they’re very talented individuals,” Parker said, Sunday. “We just have to match them with our intensity and we don’t take them for granted. You know, they can change the game, as you saw, from the fourth quarter and really get you in a deep run. So, we want to do what we can to limit those runs and not overreact when they make their runs and try to play the right way.”
What kind of offensive adjustments will the Celtics make for Game 2?
“I would tell you how. I want to do that, but I don’t want to give anything away,” Parker replied. “Just know that we’re going to make a lot of adjustments. We’re going to do what we can on offense, and we’re going to try to make it as complicated as possible for them because that’s a talented team over there.”
Celtics’ Jabari Parker On Brad Stevens: ‘I Will Always Follow Him’
From focusing on the task at hand to taking a step back and speaking on his experience with the Celtics, thus far, Parker had nothing but the nicest things to say about his newest head coach.
In fact, Jabari considers himself to be a huge fan of Stevens and says the admiration for Brad even dates as far back as Parker’s high-school days.
“Just being a fan of basketball I love his journey, I love his story, and I will always follow him,” Parker said. “I think he recruited me when he was at Butler. So, I’ve been knowing him for some time, now, and it’s always good to be with a guy you always admired and that you watched growing up. So, I definitely want to please my coach, and do what he asks of me. And just try to be a team guy, try to be a team player at the end of the day.”
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Celtics Reserve Confident in Brad Stevens, Offensive ‘Adjustments’