Rapid Recap is designed for the busiest of Celtics fans. Whether you can’t stay awake to read 10 paragraphs or your hangover is just too much, Rapid Recap tells the timeline of the game in only a minute or two.
Sweet relief from this season of hell has finally arrived. The 2021 Celtics, who never had their roster completely healthy for even one day this season; who lost more player days to Covid-19 cases than any team in the NBA; and who were forced to win the play-in tournament after plunging to a disappointing .500 record, have been eliminated from the playoffs by the Brooklyn Nets.
The Nets took Game 5 in Brooklyn tonight, 123-109, led by 83 combined points from their big three. The Celtics fought hard, but fell behind in the second quarter and could never get the lead back. Jayson Tatum was not other-worldly, but he did finish with 32/9/5.
The Nets shot 51.2% and were 15 of 32 from the arc, neither of which the Celtics could match. The team fouls and free throws were almost even, but according to my Twitter timeline, the Nets repeatedly were bailed out by momentum-changing calls in their favor.
#NEBHInjuryReport Brad Stevens says both Kemba Walker and Rob Williams are out for tonight's Game 5.
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 1, 2021
GAME 5️⃣ LET'S GO ☘️ pic.twitter.com/g4zS0pC1qU
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 1, 2021
if we're going down tonight, let's go with a bang ☘️
— Tomek Kordylewski (@Timi_093) June 1, 2021
First points on the board 🏀 pic.twitter.com/zu20yLa92Q
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 1, 2021
#Celtics holding strong early but need more buckets. They are 5-for-13 so far. #Nets
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) June 1, 2021
Celts maintained a small lead until the Nets closed the period with a 16-5 run.
The Nets are going to be brutal to beat anyway but the Celtics just gave up a wide open Kyrie 3 because they weren't matched up after a made free throw.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) June 2, 2021
Nets lead 31-24 after one
Tatum – 7 points
Lanford – 5 points
Celtics – 9-29 FGAs
Celtics – 3-16 3PAs
Celtics – 2 turnoversHarden – 11/4/4
Irving – 9 points
Nets – 12-24 FGAs
Nets – 2-8 3PAs
Nets – 1 turnover— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 2, 2021
Second quarter.
Evan Fournier, Jabari Parker, Romeo Langford, Payton Pritchard, Grant Williams. That would have been a goofy lineup for a regular season game, never mind Game 5 of a playoff series against two former MVPs and another All-Star.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) June 2, 2021
Yikes.
After showing Jayson Tatum grabbing at his knee on the court earlier in the game, it appears he's being looked at by team doctors as he sits on the sidelines now. Celtics hanging around in this game, but trail 33-28 early in the second.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) June 2, 2021
Tatum returned and didn’t appear to have any further difficulty.
Celtics' Jabari Parker's quick decision-making on offense has him up to 11 points in 8 minutes.
He's keeping the Celtics in this game right now
— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) June 2, 2021
Pritchard with the save
Parker with the basket pic.twitter.com/DFCtc3FgaN— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 2, 2021
Harden knocks Smart down on a screen and Smart is down for a few moments. No review. #Celtics #Nets
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) June 2, 2021
Marcus Smart is 1-for-9 from 3 in 16 first-half minutes.
— Chris Grenham (@chrisgrenham) June 2, 2021
Do the refs know that the Nets really don’t need their help?
— Max Lederman (@Max_Lederman) June 2, 2021
#Celtics shooting 36% from the field yet down by 8? How is that even possible?
— Ty Ray (@coug88) June 2, 2021
Celtics trailing the Nets 59-51 at the end of the first half
Tatum: 11pts, 6rebs
Parker: 11pts
Fournier: 7pts, 4rebs
BOS: 36.5% FG, 6/26 from 3Harden: 18pts, 9asts
Irving: 15pts
Durant: 7ptrs
BKN: 48.8% FG, 7/15 from 3— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) June 2, 2021
Third quarter.
Romeo Langford is really good at this defense thing: pic.twitter.com/vJGhtxqwDt
— Tomek Kordylewski (@Timi_093) June 2, 2021
James Harden complaining about foul calls is like Bill Gates complaining about paying taxes…..you get a bigger bail out than everyone when you don’t need it
— Corey B (@CoreyB08) June 2, 2021
Down 14, coulda mailed it in. Instead..punched back. Now let's see if they can survive life post timeout
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) June 2, 2021
I'm happy that the short-handed @Celtics aren't just capitulating to the Nets. This is promising for next season. #Celtics #Bleedgreen #NBA #NBAPlayoffs
— Simon (@Jovianshadow) June 2, 2021
#Nets giving the #Celtics chances to rally but BOS can't hit enough shots. 9-for-34 from 3pt. They're gonna need someone to get hot quickly. 82-73 BRK.
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) June 2, 2021
The calls kept tilting toward Brooklyn.
Wow. That is a horrible call.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 2, 2021
So if the nets commit a bad turnover or miss an easy shot it is automatically a foul regardless of what is happening? #BOSvsBKN #Celtics #BleedGreen
— Dan Kelley (@DanKelley66) June 2, 2021
Nets lead 86-79 after three
Tatum – 20 points
Langford – 13 points
Parker – 13 points
Celtics – 40% FGs
Celtics – 9-34 3PAs
Celtics – 8 turnoversHarden – 21/9/9
Irving – 20 points
Durant – 16 points
Nets – 46.8% FGs
Nets – 8-22 3PAs
Nets – 7 turnovers— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 2, 2021
Fourth quarter.
The second-leading scorers for the Celtics are Jabari Parker and Romeo Langford in a single-digit game entering the fourth just like we all predicted
— Cousin DPOY (not notable) (@AndrewDoxy) June 2, 2021
Tristan was scrapping.
The Tristan Thompson experience pic.twitter.com/Rf5MBjZzLx
— bread b☘️y (Celtics in 5) (@MarxistSmart) June 2, 2021
Harden scored but was called for a push-off.
FINALLY
— Play the kids, Ime (@csl_duke) June 2, 2021
The Nets challenged. Call overturned, basket good and a foul on Fournier.
JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKE
— Joe Giza (@JoeGiza) June 2, 2021
That star-fvcking reversal of the call from a Harden charge to a Fournier block — after Harden clearly forced contact with his shoulder & forearm into a guy who had established position — is everything that's wrong with @NBAOfficial.
Such embarrassing incompetence.#Celtics
— Polar Ginger (@PolarGinger) June 2, 2021
Followed by:
KD and Kyrie hit back-to-back threes 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ViGDoNNMkq
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 2, 2021
And the officiating continued.
Even the commentators commenting about it. Who holds the refs accountable? Real question!
— BCole_Esq (@Brandy_N_Cole) June 2, 2021
The Celtics won a challenge to prevent Evan Fournier from fouling out, but Twitter wasn’t fooled.
Sure, overturn this call just to get people off your scent
— Jam Packard (@JamPackard) June 2, 2021
Tatum now with 30. This series has definitely been a good experience for him as the No. 1 option. He finishes final three games with 50-40-30. A healthy Brown makes this a more interesting series. #Celtics #Nets
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) June 2, 2021
In the end, the Nets simply remembered how to make shots, and nailed down the win with a flurry of threes.
Brooklyn just basically woke up 5:30 ago and decided to put the game away
— John Karalis 🇬🇷 🇺🇦 (@John_Karalis) June 2, 2021
I appreciate that this Celtics team didn’t fold and give up. That’s all I have to say about the 2020-21 season
— Cousin DPOY (not notable) (@AndrewDoxy) June 2, 2021
Nets win 123-109. Nets win series 4-1.
Tatum – 32 points
Fournier – 18 points
Langford – 17 points (career-high)
Celtics – 11-40 3PAs
Celtics – 11 turnoversHarden – 34/10/10
Irving – 25 points
Durant – 24 points
Nets – 15-32 3PAs
Nets – 8 turnovers— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 2, 2021
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