NBA Playoffs 2022 - How the Boston Celtics are neutralizing Kevin Durant -- and what the Nets can do to counter

The one thing that's clear through two games of this incredible Brooklyn Nets-Boston Celtics series is this: Boston is keying in — successfully — on Kevin Durant.

The 12-time All-Star, one of the greatest offensive threats in NBA history, still scored 50 points in the first two games in Boston, and hit 18 free throws in 20 attempts in Game 2, a career-high. But his relative lack of production raises two critical questions as the series heads to Brooklyn.

1) How have the Celtics managed to keep Durant in check?

2) Is there anything the Nets can do to get him going as the team tries to crawl out of its 2-0 deficit?

Durant's 4-of-17 shooting Wednesday was his worst in the postseason since his final playoff run with the Oklahoma City Thunder (2016). And as my ESPN colleague Kirk Goldsberry noted on Twitter, both Durant's back-to-back games with shooting percentages under 40% and six-plus turnovers and his 0-of-10 shooting in the second half of Game 2 were firsts in his illustrious career.

Let's take a closer look at what the Celtics' defense, which held opponents to the fewest points per possession of any team during the regular season, is doing to contain Durant and how Brooklyn might counter at home.

According to Second Spectrum tracking analysis, an average shooter would be expected to post a 36.5% effective field-goal percentage (eFG%) on Durant's attempts through the first two games, based on the location and type of shots and the distance of nearby defenders. That's the lowest quantified shot quality (qSQ) for any player in the postseason.

In part, Boston has done this by keeping Durant away from the basket. During the regular season, 36.5% of his shot attempts were scored as coming within the paint according to NBA