The Boston Celtics were beaten soundly by the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Sunday, 101-89. That comes on the heels of the Celtics sweeping the Brooklyn Nets in the opening round. During that series, Boston completely shut down both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving for much of the series, and left no doubt who the better team was.

Following Boston's loss, 17-year NBA veteran Richard Jefferson made a point to draw the comparisons between the series'.

“Boston will be fine but it also shows how far away the NETS really were from being a contender this year!”

Only a fool would question how great Durant and Irving are offensively. But the Nets biggest deficiencies were on defense, and that was evident all year long. Brooklyn allowed over 112 points per game this season, but were actually tied with the Bucks in that category.

However, the defensive metrics tell a different story. Even without the numbers, all one has to do is watch the Nets play defense this season. They were also too star dependent on the other end of the floor. There was no creativity to the offense. Brooklyn played a lot of is0-ball, with Durant and Irving essentially just having to create shots for themselves, taking turns.

That's a recipe for disaster against a team as good defensively as the Celtics. However, the Bucks have a number of ways they can score, and they also matched Boston's physicality in Game 1.  That's something the Nets will need to improve next year if they want to truly contend for a championship.