What a difference one year makes. Prior to last year's Celtics-Nets playoff showdown, Kevin Durant was more than willing to support Kyrie Irving when he talked about Boston's "subtle racism" heading into the series.
"The whole world knows," Durant added at the time.
But on Tuesday, Durant didn't want to supply any additional bulletin board material. Following Brooklyn's 115-108 victory over the Cavaliers in the play-in game, Nets forward Bruce Brown remarked that he was feeling confident about their chances against the Celtics without Robert Williams III.
"Now they don't have Robert Williams, so they have less of a presence in the paint," Brown said. "We can attack [Daniel] Theis and [Al] Horford in the paint. Them not having Robert Williams is huge."
When Durant took the podium shortly thereafter, he asked reporters what Brown said. Then he chided his teammate for his unwarranted bravado.
"That's caffeine pride talking," Durant said. "Those two dudes [Horford and Theis] can do the same stuff [as Williams]. They ain't going to be that easy, I can tell you that."
Durant went on to scold Brown further.
"We respect our opponents. We don't need to talk about what we're going to do to them. I didn't like that," Durant said. "We don't need to say s--- like that. Let's just go out there and hoop."
Though the Nets entered the season as Eastern Conference favorites, they stumbled for most of the campaign, dealing with assorted controversies from Irving's refusal to get vaccinated to James Harden's discontent. The Nets traded Harden to the 76ers for Ben Simmons, who hasn't played a game for them yet.
Brooklyn's problems were on full display Tuesday. Despite outstanding efforts from Durant and Irving — they scored 59 combined points — they struggled to hold off the mediocre Cavaliers.
The Celtics, meanwhile, have kept on rolling, even in Williams' absence. Durant is wise to tell his teammates to keep their cockiness to themselves.
