The Brooklyn Nets will face off against the Boston Celtics in the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs. It is a battle between two old foes, as the Nets eliminated the Celtics last year in five games.
However, these are not the Celtics from last year and the same goes for the Nets. Without James Harden and with some new pieces, the Nets will look to surprise a lot of people and eliminate the surging Celtics, despite fighting for their place in the postseason through the play-in tournament.
Let's look at some bold Brooklyn Nets predictions for their first-round matchup of the 2022 NBA Playoffs versus the Boston Celtics.
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Nets bold predictions vs. Celtics
Ben Simmons will return and make an impact
The Nets are a team that went through some real adversity this season. All of their top guys missed some time, for one or another reason, and they have yet to see Ben Simmons, the main part of their James Harden trade, suit up for the squad.
However, the latest reports state that Simmons could be back for this series against the Celtics. In all honesty, while having the Aussie forward available before would have been great, it is still a good time for Simmons to return. Simmons is sorely needed to both contain Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and to use his offensive prowess to let off some pressure from Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
As Robert Williams will be out of this series, per recent reports, the lane should be fairly open for the Nets. That is good news for Irving, who gets a ton of his points driving to the hoop, but also for Simmons, should he return. Since he is a non-factor shooting-wise, Simmons will live and die offensively with his drives. To be frank, Simmons has made a good living offensively by just driving to the basket, and he should do that a ton in this series if he does return.
Defensively, Simmons would let the pressure off Durant by guarding Tatum, and as his last season ended with a second-place finish in Defensive Player of the Year voting, we know that he can do that.
Kyrie Irving will dominate this series
Losing Robert Williams might not be the biggest piece of news for most casual fans of the NBA. However, Time Lord is a huge part of the Celtics' elite defense, and losing him means that the frontcourt rotation will be damaged for this series. Williams averaged 2.2 blocks per game, but he also dissuaded many teams from even attempting to attack the Celtics' paint, due to his smart positioning and length. With him out, many in the Nets' lineup should have an easier job, but this applies most to Kyrie Irving.
While Irving is an amazing shooter, his bread and butter are dribble drives. His impeccable handles combined with the ability to finish in traffic are so important to his game. With the absence of a true rim protector, with all due respect to Al Horford, Irving should have the lane open for his signature drives and finishes. It is entirely true that Marcus Smart will do his part in containing some of these offensive moves, but more times than not, Irving will be able to get to his spots.
Thus, Kyrie should be able to dominate this series and lead the Brooklyn Nets to the next round of the playoffs.
The Nets will steal the first game and set the tone for the series
The first game of this series will be played at TD Garden on Saturday. In that game, most will favor the Celtics, as they look to keep hold of their home-court advantage.
However, the Nets will steal this game, even if Ben Simmons is not there. To put things into context, the last time these two teams played, it was at TD Garden and it was the first Nets-Celtics game where the Nets had both Kyrie and KD available. It ended with a Celtics win, but they needed all of Jayson Tatum's 54 points to win it, including some huge shots down the stretch. They also needed Irving to go 8-of-18 and for Durant to run out of gas at the end of the contest.
With all due respect to Tatum, it is hard to see him replicating this game. It is also hard to see Irving replicate an 8-of-18 shooting performance in this game, especially since his efficiency has been great this season. The Nets need Durant to play on the same level and Irving to be on the level he was in the last few weeks of the season, which is easier to expect.
Thus, the Nets should take Game 1 and immediately set the tone for this first-round matchup versus the Boston Celtics.
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