No changes for Kevin Durant when Nets face Celtics in Game 2

BOSTON — As the Nets went through practice at Harvard University’s Lavietes Pavilion Tuesday in preparation for Wednesday’s Game 2 of their opening-round series, Kevin Durant changed nothing.

In the wake of a 9-for-24 shooting performance with six turnovers in Game 1, an eye-opening struggle against the Boston Celtics and their NBA-best defense, Durant went through the video and watched how he was defended, the things he did wrong and the things the Celtics did right. And, with good reason, he was confident that with no drastic changes the results will be different.

“Just keep playing,” Durant said. “Bad games happen. Off-shooting nights happen. I felt like I was starting to get some rhythm there in the second half, so that is solid. We are just trying to look at it from playoff perspective trying to win the next game. I know what I did. I wish I had played better. We probably would have won the game.

“But I can’t let it get in the way too much. You want to look at the big picture, which is the series. It’s a thin line you are trying to cross when you want to focus the best you can but also realize it’s a team game. It’s good going through tough games. You try to evaluate and move on from them.”

The Celtics certainly don’t forget that Durant averaged 32.6 points per game against them in last year’s playoffs — including a 42-point effort in Game 4. Last season in the playoffs he shot 10-for-25 in Game 1 and then shot 59.7% over the next four games.

“He’s such a talented scorer that you want to stay in his space at all times,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. “We were switching everything but we were doing some things to keep specific matchups on him. Then when he does have favorable ones, we can go after him a little bit. I played against him his rookie year, his first year in the league, that’s what I tried to do with him is be physical back then.

“He’s adjusted to that and grown and can see a couple of things. It’s just a matter of keeping him off balance and keeping different matchups as you saw with different players guarding him. That’s kind of who we are anyway. It’s just some of those shots, he had really good looks and he’s going to make it at times and you can’t get discouraged. Stick with the game plan and try to be in his air space. He’s such a talented scorer.”

Boston’s defense is much better this season and it was able to frustrate him at times Sunday, sending waves of defenders at him, getting physical and doubling him when he tried to put the ball on the floor.

“They’ve got length, all the way down the line,” Durant said. “Two centers starting, 6-9, 6-7 at the point and Marcus [Smart] is about 6-4. A lot of teams can play like they do but not a lot of teams have length like that. So personnel — you can have all the schemes and strategies you want as a coach but personnel matters more than anything.

“…You look at how we shot the basketball. I think we pretty much handled it solid. We turned the ball over. That physicality they got their hands on some basketballs, some 50-50 balls which was able to get them some fast-break points. But when you look at the shots and the flow and the movement that we had we had good possessions and looked solid. It’s just a matter of when they swarm you with their length when you drive and they put their hands in the passing lanes and stuff, you gotta be more conscious of that. That’s what they’re really good at. If we keep the ball in our hands and get a good shot up every time down, we put ourselves in a good position.”

NOTES & QUOTES: The NBA announced Tuesday that Kyrie Irving has been fined $50,000 — the maximum allowed without opening up the grievance process — for making obscene gestures on the court and directing profane language toward the stands Sunday in Game 1 at TD Garden. Irving was not made available to the media Tuesday, but he didn’t regret his actions when speaking after the game, saying, “This isn’t my first time in TD Garden so what you guys saw and what you guys think is entertainment or the fans think is entertainment, all is fair in competition.”

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By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.