Jacque Vaughn reacts to Brooklyn Nets' heavy defeat to Boston Celtics - "They made some tough shots and they got going early"
Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn didn't hold back when addressing their blowout loss against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night. While highlighting what the Celtics did right, Vaughn shared his thoughts on where Brooklyn came up short.
The rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets could be seen taking root as recently as last season's playoffs. With the up-and-coming Celtics facing off against the star-studded Nets in the first round, the matchup was primed to be an exciting one.
However, the outcome was shocking, to say the least. The boys from Beantown absolutely thrashed the Nets in a four-game sweep to end their postseason dreams. In the process, the Celtics and the Nets saw the development of a rivalry.
While the Nets will hope to get a taste of revenge this season, the Celtics have been a tough team to beat. In the latest edition of the matchup, however, Boston handed Brooklyn a particularly embarrassing loss.
With a 139-96 scoreline at the end of regulation, the Boston Celtics absolutely blew the Brooklyn Nets out of TD Garden.
In many ways, the game was over before it even started. Considering that the Nets were also shorthanded, they had little going in their favor. However, giving up 46 points in the first quarter was also a bit of a bad omen for the rest of the game.
Needless to say, Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn was disappointed with his team's effort. While discussing the events of the game during the postgame press conference, Vaughn touched upon some of the key mistakes his team made.
While talking about the start of the game, he said:
"I think they started out with 8-8 from three or somewhere around there. So that barrage of them making shots and then we weren't making shots at the same time. Not a great start for us.
"I told the group I'm disappointed in the fact that I did not have them ready to play - 46-16. We've been a group who've pretty much been focused and ready to play. So it was a great challenge for us on the road where they hit first, what was our response.
"So give them credit. We talked about making more threes and shooting more threes than them. Neither of those things happened. They made some tough shots and they got going early, and that was the difference in the game."
Jacque Vaughn: They made some tough shots and they got going early, and that was the difference in the game. https://t.co/kdZdvtGgOn
To say that the shortcomings were limited to the failure to make threes would be a bit of an oversight. In a rather one-sided event, the Celtics did a lot of things right to ensure that the Nets suffered a humiliating defeat.
With several factors playing a role, Vaughn has every reason to be disappointed with his team.
The Brooklyn Nets were blindsided by the Celtics
The Boston Celtics caught the Brooklyn Nets with an absolute flurry of baskets early on. This in itself set the tempo for the game and Brooklyn failed to recover from it.
Given that the entire display started with an absolute defensive meltdown, Brooklyn failed to recover momentum on the offensive side. With Kevin Durant out, Kyrie Irving was forced to carry Brooklyn's offense. However, with only 20 points on the night, Irving also had a tough time settling into a rhythm.
Meanwhile, the Celtics absolutely hammered the Nets on the rebounding glass. With a 57-32 differential, Boston won the game and the rebounding battle by a large margin.
The Brooklyn Nets managed to keep pace with the Celtics over the course of the remaining three quarters. When looking at the score in each quarter, the Nets could have made it a competitive bout.
However, the barrage in the first quarter left Brooklyn with a deficit that was simply too much to cover.
Read: Kyrie Irving stats: How has the Brooklyn Nets star fared in the 5 major categories this season?