The Celtics could have folded any number of times in Game 2 of their first-round series against the Nets.
They could have fallen behind by 20 in the first half. They could have crashed in the second half when Al Horford was in foul trouble and the Nets stopped giving Grant Williams open 3-pointers. They could have let the back-breaking offensive rebounds kill their spirit.
But the Celtics didn’t fold. They got just enough offense in the first half to set the table for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who — as they proved once again on Wednesday — are both entirely too talented to be held in check for 48 minutes.