When the final horn sounded in a 114-107 Celtics win last night, Boston completed a 17-point comeback that tested their ability to stay focused on the goal at hand: winning. Al Horford, the eldest player on the roster, had some choice and encouraging words to give to his teammates in green and white.
“We took their [the Nets] punch; we talked about that, right? Remember we said they’re going to come out and hit us? We took their punch, we stayed with it, and we did what we had to do — protect the home court. Good job — We got a long way to go.”
Brooklyn jumped out to a double-digit lead at the 5:54 mark of the first quarter, 18-8, after Kevin Durant sank two free throws. That lead eventually ballooned to 17 with 1:47 seconds left in the first half.
However, as Horford said, Boston ‘took their punch’ and outscored Brooklyn 69-45 the rest of the way, using a combination of tough-nosed defense and meticulous offense.
Horford and the Celtics head into Game 3 at Barclays Center up 2-0 on the Nets, with tip-off slated to start at 7:30 PM EST on Saturday.
