The NBA is a game of stars, especially in the postseason.
That was certainly true Saturday night in Brooklyn as the Nets Big 3 of Kevin Durant (32 points), James Harden (21) and Kyrie Irving (29) combined for 82 points, including a 22-point surge to open the second half, to beat the Celtics 104-93 to open the playoffs.
Brooklyn's still-new star trio was playing just its ninth game together overall, first as a starting lineup, which may have led to some early inconsistency that allowed Boston to lead 21-16 after one quarter of action and 32-20 in the second quarter.
It certainly helped that while the Nets were missing their first nine three-point attempts and going one-for-13 from behind the arc in the first half, Boston hit for nine-of-17 from deep.
Unfortunately for Brad Stevens' team, those numbers more than evened out after halftime. Harden, Irving and Durant all hit three-point attempts early in the third quarter as the Nets went on an 18-4 run to take control of the game.
Brooklyn's lead swelled to as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter as a Nets team that's certainly not known for its defense held Boston to just 20 points in each of the final two quarters, the Celtics hitting only two of 13 three-point shots in the second half.
While Brooklyn's stars were carrying the load and pulling away to go give the No. 2 seed the 1-0 advantage in the series against its play-in, seventh-seed foe, Boston's leaders had a tough night on the road in front of a crowd of nearly 15,000.
Kemba Walker got into early foul trouble and finished going just five-of-16 from the field for 15 points, inflated by two late three pointers when the game was already decided. Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum finished with a team-high 22 points, despite going 0-for-6 from the field in the second half as the Nets top playmakers pulled away and put the game out of reach.
Despite the early leads and fighting the good fight against an obviously superior opponent, Boston was a justifiably disappointed basketball team after the final whistle.
"It's the playoffs. If you are not going to bring it you might as well stay at home," veteran leader Marcus Smart (17 points) said afterwards.
Not only bring it every night, but from a Boston perspective bring it every possession on both ends of the court. Game 1 showed that the Nets can have lapses on both ends of the floor, shoot poorly for extended stretches and still do enough to win thanks to a star-studded roster.
The Celtics on the other hand can play really well at times on both ends of the floor for spurts and it may not be nearly enough over 48 minutes.
With All Star Jaylen Brown lost for the season to wrist surgery, Boston is without one of its own Big 3 options. And with Tatum and Walker having off nights, expecting to beat Brooklyn's Big 3 is a tough sell.
One of the only real bright spots for Boston was young big man Robert Williams. Williams nearly hit for a triple-double thanks to Celtics playoff-record nine blocks to go along with his 11 points and nine rebounds.
"His timing is amazing," Irving said of Williams' blocks.
"It don't mean [expletive] if we're losing, man," Williams declared.
No, no it doesn't. Not in the NBA playoffs. Not against one of the more impressive groups of offensive talent ever assembled. Not on this night.
Boston did what it could to build a lead and keep the game relatively close for as long as it could, but really to the surprise of no one the Nets just had too much talent, too much offense down the stretch.
The teams will return to the court for Game 2 of the series on Tuesday night at 7:30 pm in Brooklyn.
