Fans were expecting a potential encounter between Russell Westbrook and the Washington Wizards and Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the playoffs. But Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics sawed that dream matchup in half after beating the Wizards, 118-100, on Tuesday in the Play-In Tournament to secure the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference seal a meeting with the second-seeded Nets.
The Celtics, the first team to advance out of the Play-In Tournament, will now be tasked to take down the Nets, which head coach Brad Stevens called “probably the most talented team that’s been assembled since I’ve been in the NBA,” per NBA.com But aside from the talent disparity between the teams, Boston will find it difficult to overcome Brooklyn for other reasons. Here are three reasons why the Nets will overwhelm the Celtics and advance to the second round of the playoffs:
1. The Nets are getting healthy are the right time
Brooklyn has played 59 games since acquiring James Harden from the Houston Rockets in January. But Harden has shared the court with fellow All-Stars Durant and Kyrie Irving just eight times in those games, as the 2018 and 2014 MVPs have been sidelined for parts of the season due to various leg injuries. The good news for the Nets is that Harden returned to the Nets’ lineup toward the end of the regular season, and the team looks to be healthy just in time for the postseason.
Even when they dealt with injuries, the Nets still finished with a 48-24 record and the league’s best offense with a 118.3 offensive rating. With Harden, Durant, and Irving all at the peak of their powers, Brooklyn will be a problem for the other teams in the playoffs, including the Celtics. While the Nets rounded into form toward the end of the regular season, the opposite happened to the Celtics.
Forward Jaylen Brown, who is enjoying a breakout season and was named an All-Star for the first time in his career this season, suffered a wrist injury that ended his season with less than a week left in the regular season. Brown was averaging career-best numbers of 24.7 points, six rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.2 steals while shooting 48.4% from the field and 39.7% from beyond the arc this season. The Nets are the more talented team of the two, but Brown’s injury puts the Celtics even more at a disadvantage heading into their series.
2. The Celtics are not the same on defense
The Celtics are coming off an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, where they lost to the Miami Heat. They finished with a 48-34 record last year and were third in the conference. This season, however, Boston only managed a 36-36 record and the seventh seed. One reason for their decline this season has been their defense.
After finishing the past season with a 107.0 defensive rating, which ranked fourth in the league, the Celtics ended the regular season with a 112.5 defensive rating, which ranks just 14th in the NBA. Their regression on defense comes at an unfortunate time, as they will be facing the league’s best offense and three All-Stars in Durant, Harden, and Irving. With their defense not as stout as it was, the Celtics will be hard-pressed to win against a talented offense like the Nets’.
3. The Nets will be a different team in the playoffs
While there is little concern about how the team’s offense in the postseason, there is some concern about Brooklyn’s defense come playoff time. The Nets ranked 23rd in the league on defense with a 113.8 defensive rating, which is a cause for concern. But head coach Steve Nash, his staff, and players like Durant, Harden, and Irving all understand that the playoffs are a different battle altogether.
With the team healthier and more focused than they’ve ever been, the Nets should be able to defeat an overmatched and shorthanded Celtics squad. It will be fun to watch Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker try to take on this Brooklyn team by themselves (Tatum has been on a tear recently), but when the series is finished, the Nets will march on to the second round where they will face tougher challenges.
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