“Nets fans were loud, threw me off a little bit”: James Harden explains why Blake Griffin and co couldn’t score freely in the first half vs Celtics

Brooklyn Nets’ star James Harden blames the crowd in attendance for his poor start to the first playoff game against the Celtics

The NBA playoffs are underway! The first day of the matches was nothing short of excitement. We witnessed an OT battle in the first matchup of the postseason, with the Bucks taking Miami to OT to win 109-107. The Mavericks upset the Clippers, as they beat the hosts 113-103. The Brooklyn Nets started their campaign with a win against the Boston Celtics. The hosts beat the visitors 104-93.

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Despite a slow start by the Nets, their Big 3 came alive in the second half to secure the win. The Big 3 finished with a combined 82 points. Kevin Durant led the way with his 32 points and 12 rebounds. Kyrie Irving scored 29 points, and James Harden almost finished with a triple-double. He scored 21 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and dished 8 assists.

James Harden blames the crowd for throwing the Nets off their game

The Nets had a rather very slow start to the game, shooting just 1/13 from 3s in the first half. They were down by as much as 12 points within the first two quarters. They did recover in the second half and won the contest.

James Harden has a rather interesting explanation for their slow start. According to James, the cheers and noise by the fans threw the Nets off their game. There were 14,391 fans in attendance, which is the highest number of people gathered indoors in New York since the spread of the pandemic. The cheering of the fans took some adjusting to, according to Harden.

James Harden on how the Barclays Center crowd affected his game tonight:

“The crowd threw me off a little bit. It was pretty loud in there. The vibe was what we’ve been missing.” pic.twitter.com/jJH7bTDp6K

— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) May 23, 2021

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Despite trailing by double digits early in the game, Brooklyn secured the win rather comfortably. It would be interesting to see how far the team can make it this post-season, considering their lineup is what it is.