Celtics complete sweep against Nets, become 1st team to advance to 2nd round

Jayson Tatum scored 29 points, Jaylen Brown had 22 and the Boston Celtics completed a four-game sweep of the Brooklyn Nets, becoming the first team to reach the second round of the playoffs with a 116-112 victory Monday night.

Marcus Smart added 20 points and 11 assists for the No. 2-seeded Celtics, who made easy work of what was thought could be a tough series. Boston will wait for the winner of the series between Milwaukee and Chicago. The defending champion Bucks hold a 3-1 lead in that series.

Kevin Durant had 39 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, breaking free after the Celtics had defended him well in the first three games. But he couldn't get the Nets the win they needed to extend what instead goes down as a massive failure of a season.

Seth Curry scored 23 points for the Nets. Kyrie Irving, whose unavailability for home games much of the season because he isn't vaccinated against the coronavirus contributed to the Nets performing so far below expectations, had 20 points.

The Celtics were under .500 at the midpoint of their season but went 31-10 from there, with Tatum emerging as the scoring star on one of the NBA's best defensive teams.

That defence limited Durant to just 19-for-52 shooting with 17 turnovers through the first three games and made it tough for him, even as he finally got more shots to drop Monday. He was only 13-of-31 from the field, 3-11 behind the arc.

He lost in the first round for the first time since 2010 with Oklahoma City, the first playoff series of his career. He had won nine straight first-round series.

Tatum had 12 points in the third quarter and the Celtics opened a 90-75 lead in the closing seconds of the period. But he went to the bench with a fifth foul with 8:17 remaining and the Nets made a push that got them within three points about three minutes later.

Tatum fouled out with the Celtics leading by six with 2:48 to play. Irving made a three-pointer and Durant scored to cut it to 109-108 with 1:28 remaining. But after a basket by Brown, Durant could only make one free throw and the Celtics rushed down the floor, with Al Horford putting back Smart's miss to make it 113-109 with 13 seconds left.

The Nets hoped they could have Ben Simmons make his debut for them in Game 4, but he was ruled out Sunday with more pain in his back that has troubled him since not long after arriving in a mid-season trade with Philadelphia.

Simmons situation

Coach Steve Nash said he didn't want to speak for Simmons, but acknowledged there was a mental side beyond the physical problems he is facing. Simmons cited mental health concerns as a reason he sought to leave Philadelphia and didn't suit up for the 76ers this season.

"I think Ben has addressed that there is a mental component with what he's going through, but how much and where he's at with that is not for me to speak about," Nash said. "But as far as an organization, we're really pushing to support Ben in any way we can to help him improve physically and get back on the court, and then the mental side of that is part and parcel. They're not separate, they're not something that we don't want to deal with. We want to help if he needs help in any aspect of his life and his game."

Doncic, Mavericks top Jazz to regain series lead

Luka Doncic had 33 points and 13 rebounds in his first home playoff game coming off a calf injury and the Dallas Mavericks routed the Utah Jazz 102-77 on Monday night for a 3-2 lead in their first-round playoff series.

After the first four games were decided by eight points or less, Game 5 was never really close, thanks to Utah's nearly six-minute scoreless drought in the second quarter that fueled a 22-4 Dallas run on the way to a 52-36 halftime lead.

Game 6 is Thursday night in Salt Lake City, with the Jazz regaining their formidable home-court edge, but facing the long odds of just 18 per cent of teams winning a series after dropping the fifth game when the teams split the first four.

The Mavericks haven't advanced in the postseason since winning the 2011 championship. Utah is in the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year, but hasn't gone past the second round.

Jordan Clarkson scored 20 points and Rudy Gobert added 17 points and 11 rebounds in the lowest-scoring game for the Jazz since they lost by 50 at Dallas (118-68) on Nov. 14, 2018. They were 3-of-30 from three-point range (10 per cent) and shot 38 per cent overall.

Donovan Mitchell, who averaged 30 points in the first four games, scored just nine and missed all seven of his three-pointers before limping to the locker room holding the area around his left knee in the fourth quarter.

The frustration boiled over for Utah when Hassan Whiteside was ejected following a hard foul on Doncic in the fourth quarter.

Whiteside was assessed two technical fouls after shoving Dorian Finney-Smith and going nose-to-nose with Reggie Bullock as coaches from both sides frantically tried to keep players separated. Finney-Smith and Bullock also got technicals, and Bullock was ejected because it was his second of the game.

Jalen Brunson, who carried most of the offensive load for Dallas when Doncic was sidelined, scored 24 points. Finney-Smith added 13, and Dwight Powell got the crowd going early with all eight of his points on 4-of-4 shooting in the first.

Doncic, his left calf covered in a black wrap under white leggings, kept a raucous crowd rolling with several nifty moves and high-arcing three-pointers.

The first highlight came late in the first half when Doncic drove all the way to the rim with Gobert guarding him, stopped and faked the seven-foot-one centre several times before turning his back to the basket and spinning a reverse layup off the glass and in as Gobert fouled him.

The exclamation point was in the third quarter, when Doncic hit consecutive threes for a 74-46 lead, doing a shimmy in front of the fans to his left after the second one went in. The 23-year-old sensation swished another three for a 79-46 lead right after blocking Jordan Clarkson's shot from deep.

Doncic left to a standing ovation after committing a foul on purpose to stop the game with a 29-point Dallas lead in the fourth quarter.