Before returning to Boston, the Nets had not forgotten the spanking – 50 points difference – received against the Celtics last season. They showed it well in a close encounter where the Brooklyn players decided to go after the reigning champions. Literally, applying all-terrain pressure for the majority of the game.
Which shook up Joe Mazzulla's troops, forced to go through an extension to finally dismiss the Nets (108-104) who were very disappointed by this result.
“I'm not in favor of the idea of moral victory because I think this match was winnable. We were in front for a large part of the meeting. They only managed a few good possessions at the end, with big shots,” regrets Cam Thomas. “We have to live with it and take our hats off to them. I have the impression that we could win this match, that we were not dominated from start to finish as is always the case when we come here. »
“If we are satisfied for a moment, we will be punished at one point or another”
We can also see the glass half full and rejoice, for Brooklyn, at being able to put on such a match against the reigning champions.
“The team is in a good position at the moment. The energy is high”, continues the rear, author of 31 points in this defeat. “We love each other and we love playing for each other. The coach is excellent. The waves are positive. We must continue to play, to try to win matches. I'm really satisfied. »
Ben Simmons wants to move in this direction and look at this setback as a promise and less as a disappointment. “We lost and it’s boring, so we have to take the positive from it”asks the playmaker, who underlines the style of Jordi Fernandez, focused on aggression: ” Play hard. If we don't play hard, then we don't play. This is what everyone is waiting for. If one does it, so does the one next to it. »
The Nets coach does not intend to be satisfied with this narrow defeat, because it means taking the risk of resting on fragile laurels.
“I don’t think we need that to believe in ourselves in front of anyone. We are not happy because we lost this match. It's a very good team up front but we can't be satisfied, because the NBA doesn't work like that. If we are satisfied for a moment, we will be punished at one point or another. The guys didn't want to lose this match, we're going to learn from that.” concludes Jordi Fernandez.