The fact that Jayson Tatum spun around Boston nemesis Kyrie Irving to score the game-winning basket Sunday surely didn’t go unnoticed by Celtics fans.
But potentially lost in the Game 1 hysteria was the whereabouts of the Brooklyn Nets’ other superstar.
Kevin Durant was hovering around the free-throw line when Jaylen Brown delivered a pass beyond the arc to Marcus Smart. Tatum was right behind Durant at the time, but the two-time NBA Finals MVP paid absolutely no attention to the Celtics franchise cornerstone. Tatum made an unencumbered beeline to the basket, received a feed from Smart and laid it up to give the C’s a dramatic victory at TD Garden.
Durant, meanwhile, barely moved over the course of the final five seconds of the game and was forced to watch Tatum and company rejoice while Green Teamers in attendance went absolutely ballistic.
It was a rather fitting end to what was an uncharacteristically mild playoff performance for KD. Durant scored 23 points on 9-of-24 shooting, including 1-of-5 from distance. The all-world talent also turned the ball over six times.
All of this is to say we probably will see a man on a mission when Durant takes the floor for Game 2 of the best-of-seven series. After two days off, the Celtics and the Nets will reconvene Wednesday at TD Garden with a tipoff set for 7 p.m. ET.
