Kevin Durant Irked As Nets’ Bruce Brown Gives Celtics Bulletin-Board Material

Bruce Brown barely even dried off from Tuesday’s postgame shower before sending a subtle shot at the Nets’ next opponent, the Celtics, after Brooklyn earned a NBA Play-In Tournament win and thus a postseason clash with Boston.

“Them not having Robert Williams is huge,” Brown said, per the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn, following Brooklyn’s 115-108 victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers. “We can attack (Daniel) Theis and (Al) Horford in the paint.”

Were Brown’s comments overly aggressive? No, obviously not. But it’s still probably not the best idea to give a playoff opponent bulletin-board material from the jump — especially given that the Celtics are not new to using those types of things as motivation.

Nets teammate Kevin Durant certainly didn’t seem to appreciate the comments.

“That’s caffeine pride talking,” Durant said, per Washburn. “Those dudes (Theis and Horford) can do the same things (as Williams).

Durant added: “We respect our opponents. We don’t need to talk about what we’re going to do to them. I didn’t like that (Brown said that). … We don’t need to say (expletive) like that. Let’s just go out there and hoop.”

The Celtics, a three-point favorite entering Game 1, will host the Nets at TD Garden on Sunday.