Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant is not trying to give the Boston Celtics any bulletin board material heading into their opening-round playoff series. It’s why he was no fan of comments from his teammate Bruce Brown after their win on Tuesday night.
Yesterday, the Nets punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a 115-108 play-in game win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Brooklyn. The victory places the team in a head-on collision with the second-seeded and red-hot Boston Celtics. Following the win, Nets forward Bruce Brown was asked about the upcoming series and gave his thoughts on what will be the keys in the Nets advancing to the semifinals.
Kevin Durant tries to downplay Bruce Brown’s comments about Boston Celtics
“We can’t let [Jayson] Tatum get 50. We got to be physical with them. Now they don’t have Robert Williams, so they have less of a presence in the paint, and we could attack Al Horford and [Daniel] Theis,” Brown explained. “So them not having Robert Williams is huge.”
Celtics center Robert Williams was a key part of the team’s strong play over the last month, however, he is currently sidelined with a torn meniscus in his knee. When or if he will return to the team for the playoffs is still uncertain. However, despite that fact and the honest assessment from Brown, Kevin Durant is not trying to give his upcoming opponents any added motivation whatsoever.
Related: Check out the next set of play-in matchups on the NBA games today schedule
Before heading to the post-game podium to talk about the team’s win, Durant was already unhappy about his teammate’s comments. “What did Bruce Brown say when he got up here?” Durant asked the assembled media. “He said something I didn’t like, somebody just told me.” The All-Star forward then elaborated on his dislike for Brown’s comments.
“We respect our opponents,” he said. “We don’t need to talk about what we’re going to do to them. I just don’t like that, but that’s how Bruce is. He comes in and keeps the same energy throughout the whole season so — but we don’t need to say s**t like that. Let’s just go out there and hoop.”
Durant doesn’t have much of an answer for dealing with Jayson Tatum either
Without a doubt, Brown was right in noting the Nets can’t let Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum take control and dominate in this upcoming series. When asked for his own thoughts on how the team will combat the forward’s talents, the best Durant could offer up was the classic response of “play hard and see what happens.”
“That’s a tough question,” Durant said about the Nets strategy for dealin with Tatum. “He’s one of those players you just got to play hard and see what happens. He’s just so talented and skilled and efficient at what he does. We gotta just play hard — and I expect us to.”
The Nets and Celtics series kicks off on Sunday in Boston.