Former NBA superstar and President of the LA Lakers Earvin “Magic” Johnson has called out the Brooklyn Nets for their tactics in their loss against the Boston Celtics in the second game of their playoff series.
The Celtics hosted the New York-based outfit in the second game of their highly anticipated series. Even though the Celtics ran out winners 114-107, the scoreline does not reflect the actual story of the match.
The Nets started the game with great intensity and dominated the Celtics on every aspect of the court in the first two quarters. They had a commanding lead going into the third quarter, but that’s when things started to fall apart.
In the third quarter, the Celtics cut the ten-point deficit to five with a strong finish. And it all went south for the Nets as they were dismantled in the fourth quarter by a staggering 12-point margin, with the Celtics outscoring them 29-17.
The game turned on its head in the final quarter, with the Celtics player’s high pressure allowing them to create higher turnovers, and faster counterattacks. The higher turnovers left the Nets exposed at the back, and the likes of Jason Tatum, and Jaylen Brown took full advantage of their defensive frailties.
Reflecting on the game, NBA legend Magic Johnson slammed the Nets players for attempting too many one-on-one encounters which the Celtics defense dealt with too easily. Thus their scoring attempts were easily nullified and the Celtics instigated an unlikely comeback.
This result puts a lot of pressure on the Nets as another defeat will put them in a very precarious position.
