The Brooklyn Nets fell to the Boston Celtics 109-103 on Saturday evening in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Blake Griffin, who hadn’t played in the postseason up to this point, put in eight good minutes in the outing and scored eight points.
Not only that, but his production also gave the Nets a much-needed shot in the arm that almost led to them catching Boston late.
After Brooklyn came up short, Griffin spoke to the media regarding where he felt like the Nets were going wrong against the Celtics.
“I don’t know that our spirit was right tonight.”
– Blake Griffin pic.twitter.com/P1Jjvr5FOV
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) April 24, 2022
“Defensively, we just haven’t been a cohesive unit”
Blake Griffin discusses the biggest challenges for the Nets in this series: pic.twitter.com/xbxWA7OIbx
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) April 24, 2022
“I think our attention to detail needs to go up,” he said. “And that’s from everybody, players included. Especially players, obviously we’re out there. I think we all just need to take a look in the mirror.”
For Griffin, it’s all about getting into the right mindset.
“Bring a certain amount of intensity the next couple of days,” he continued. “And also have the right spirit the next couple days I think is important for us. I don’t know that our spirit was right tonight.”
Head coach Steve Nash had nothing but positive things to say about Griffin’s contributions on Saturday.
“I thought he played his [butt] off,” Nash said after the game. “He really hustled and worked and made a couple 3s and gave us a lift.
“We needed a lift, some energy and some life and a little bit of belief.”
Griffin was injured for much of the latter half of the regular season, but was available to play in the first two games of the Celtics series despite not being called upon to do so. It will be interesting to see if that changes in Game 4, with the Nets staring down the barrel of a potential sweep.
Heading into this season, Griffin was very bold about how he felt the Nets would perform. He even went so far as to mock his old squad, the Detroit Pistons.
Paige kept it real. https://t.co/931wgEJRr3
— Game 7 (@game7__) April 24, 2022
Clearly things haven’t gone according to plan, though.
Particularly not on the ring-chasing front for Griffin.
No team has ever come back from being down 3-0 in an NBA playoff series. Will the Nets become the first? Time will tell.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
