The Celtics full their three-game homestand with a go to from the Brooklyn Nets in a Sunday matinee. That is the fourth and last assembly between these two groups this season. The Nets gained the primary sport 123-104 in Boston on November 24. The Celtics gained the following two video games in Brooklyn: 126-91 on 2/8 and 129-106 on 2/24. The Celtics are 133-73 all-time towards the Nets and 71-33 in video games performed in Boston.
The Celtics have moved as much as fifth within the East. They’ve gained their final 2 video games and are 8-2 of their final 10 video games. They’re 22-11 at residence. They’re 27-16 towards different Japanese Convention groups and 8-6 towards Atlantic Division opponents. The Celtics are 1.5 video games behind third place Milwaukee and 4th place Chicago. They’re 2 video games behind 2nd place Philadelphia. They’re 1 sport forward of sixth place Cleveland and three video games forward of seventh place Toronto.
The Nets are eighth within the East. They’ve misplaced their final 3 video games and are 3-7 of their final 10 video games. They’re 19-14 on the highway. They’re 22-17 towards different Japanese Convention groups and 7-5 towards Atlantic Division opponents. The Nets are 2.5 video games behind seventh place Toronto, 4.5 video games behind sixth place Cleveland and 5.5 video games behind fifth place Boston. They’re half a sport forward of ninth place Atlanta, 1 sport forward of tenth place Charlotte, and three video games forward of eleventh place Washington and the lottery.
The Nets have appeared completely different every time the Celtics have performed them. They’ve used 35 completely different beginning lineups this season with 18 gamers getting a minimum of one begin. On 11/24, they began Harden, Mills, Durant, Bambry and Aldridge. On 2/8, they began Mills, Brown, Bembry, Edwards and Griffin. On 2/24, they began Mills, Curry, Brown, Johnson and Drummond. Kevin Durant returned on Thursday from a 21 sport absence and needs to be obtainable for this sport. Kyrie Irving missed all 3 of the video games to this point, however needs to be obtainable for this sport.
The Celtics are ending up a 3 sport residence stand. They’ll play at Charlotte on Wednesday, after a 2 day break after which will return to Boston for residence video games towards Detroit and Dallas. They’ll then head out on a 4 sport western highway journey. That is the primary of a 3 sport highway journey for Brooklyn which may even embrace Charlotte and Philadelphia. They’ll return residence to face the Knicks earlier than a highway sport towards the Magic.
Jaylen Brown (ankle) has been upgraded to questionable for this sport. I’m considering positively and together with Jaylen within the beginning lineup. Aaron Nesmith (ankle), who began Thursday’s sport in Brown’s place, is listed as out for this sport. If Brown can’t play, then I’m guessing that Derrick White will get the beginning, or if Ime needs to maintain the bench rotation intact, I’m unsure who he’ll flip to. Seth Curry is listed as possible with ankle soreness. Joe Harris is out for the remainder of the season with an ankle harm. Ben Simmons is out after having some again soreness throughout his reconditioning course of.
Possible Celtics Starters
PG: Marcus Sensible
SG: Jaylen Brown
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Al Horford
C: Robert Williams III
Celtics Reserves
Payton Pritchard
Grant Williams
Derrick White
Daniel Theis
Luke Kornet
Sam Hauser
Malik Fitts (10 day)
Kelan Martin (10 day)
Nick Stauskas
Accidents
Jaylen Brown (ankle) questionable
Aaron Nesmith (ankle) out
Two-Method Gamers
Brodric Thomas
Matt Ryan
Head Coach
Ime Udoka
Possible Nets Starters
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Seth Curry
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: Bruce Brown
C: Andre Drummond
Nets Reserves
LaMarcus Aldridge
Nic Claxton
Goran Dragic
Blake Griffin
James Johnson
Patty Mills
Day’Ron Sharpe
Cam Thomas
Accidents
Seth Curry (ankle) possible
Joe Harris (ankle) out
Ben Simmons (again) out
Two Method Gamers
David Duke, Jr
Kessler Edwards
Head Coach
Steve Nash
Key Matchups
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Jayson Tatum
Picture by Maddie Malhotra/Getty Pictures
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Kevin Durant
Picture by Sarah Stier/Getty Pictures
Jayson Tatum vs Kevin Durant
That is Durant’s 2nd sport again after a 21 sport absence with a knee harm. He scored 31 factors in his first sport again and so we all know he hasn’t missed a step in his return. He’s averaging 29.3 factors, 7.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists per sport. He’s capturing 51.9% from the sphere and 36.9% from past the arc. Jayson has been enjoying very effectively in current video games and the Celtics will want an enormous sport from him on each ends of the courtroom on this one.
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Marcus Sensible
Picture by Maddie Meyer/Getty Pictures
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Kyrie Irving
Picture by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE by way of Getty Pictures
Marcus Sensible vs Kyrie Irving
Irving has been enjoying within the Nets’ highway video games solely to this point this season. He hasn’t performed in any of the video games to this point towards the Celtics. He has been enjoying very effectively within the video games he performs in. He’s averaging 25.1 factors, 4.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per sport. He’s capturing 45.9% from the sphere and 36.6% from past the arc. The Celtics must gradual him down and hold him from having an enormous sport.
Honorable Point out
Jaylen Brown vs Seth Curry
Curry is possible for this sport and Brown is questionable. Curry is averaging 16.6 factors, 3.6 rebounds and three.9 assists per sport. He’s capturing 47.2% from the sphere and 44.4% from past the arc. The Celtics must hold him from having an enormous sport, particularly from the perimeter.
Keys to the Recreation
Protection – Protection will all the time be the largest key to successful. The Celtics must proceed to make protection their precedence and their identification with a view to hold successful. They’ve moved as much as 2nd within the league with a defensive ranking of 105.4. The Nets are simply twenty third with a defensive ranking of 112.0. The Nets as a crew shoot very effectively each inside and out of doors. The Celtics gained’t out-shoot the Nets and they also should play robust crew protection in the event that they hope to win.
Rebound – As a way to rating, the Celtics want the ball and to get the ball, they might want to crash the boards as a crew. The Celtics common 46.3 rebounds per sport whereas the Nets common 44.3 rebounds per sport. A lot of rebounding is effort and when the Celtics put out further effort on the boards, it normally carries over into the remainder of their sport. The Celtics should come into the sport decided to work exhausting and to hustle for each rebound.
Be Aggressive for 48 Minutes – The Celtics must play with effort and power for your complete sport with no let up. They should begin robust and play exhausting all through the sport. They must be aggressive after they go to the basket, after they go after rebounds, after they defend, and after they go after free balls. They must be the crew that performs tougher and that wishes the sport extra.
Focus and Vitality – The Celtics want to remain centered on making the appropriate play. They must take good pictures and give attention to hitting them. They should be centered on making good passes and never get sloppy with the ball. They must give attention to dealing with the ball fastidiously and never turning it over. They must give attention to not lacking defensive assignments. And so they must play with power and never enable the Nets to play tougher than them.
Bench Play – The Nets have a deep bench they usually have gamers who can are available and hit huge pictures and make a distinction. Goran Dragic, Patty Mills, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nic Claxton, and Blake Griffin can all make a distinction on any given night time. Dragic and Mills have had huge video games towards the Celtics earlier than. The Celtics reserves have to carry their very own when the starters get a relaxation.
X-Elements House Recreation – The Nets are a greater highway crew than they’re at residence, largely as a result of Kyrie Irving enjoying on the highway and never at residence. The Celtics have performed effectively at residence with a 22-11 file on the TD Backyard. They should feed off the power of the group and hopefully, the Nets can be distracted by journey and the hostile crowd.
Celtics Satisfaction – Kyrie Irving disrespected the Celtics by quitting on the crew as he deliberate to signal with the Nets after saying that he deliberate to return to the Celtics. Then he got here again to the TD Backyard and went out of his approach to stomp on Fortunate at middle courtroom. The Celtics want to recollect this and stomp on the Nets this time.
Officiating – The officiating is all the time an x-factor. Some referees name the sport tight and others allow them to play. Some favor the house crew and others name it evenly. Not less than they don’t have James Harden, who lives on the line. The Celtics must play via no matter calls go towards them and never enable dangerous calls or no calls to remove their give attention to the sport.
DraftKings
According to our friends at DraftKings, the Celtics are a 4.5-point favourite at residence. That line ought to transfer based mostly on Jaylen Brown’s availability, however don’t be shocked if Boston remains to be the favored to win at TD Backyard. They’ve taken the primary two of this three-game homestand with little to no contributions from Brown towards two postseason hopefuls and whereas the Nets are getting wholesome and complete, the Celtics have already gone via their rising pains and at the moment are inflicting them onto their opponents.
From a Nets’ perspective, there are simply so many variables. Kevin Durant is Kevin Durant, however he’s coming off an extended stint on the harm. Although he didn’t appear to overlook a beat on Thursday night time in a loss to the Warmth with 31 factors on 10-of-21 capturing in simply over 35 minutes, he missed 22 of 23 video games since January twelfth. There’s clearly the Kyrie-back-in-Boston narrative to think about, too. He’s appeared nice within the fifteen video games he’s performed to this point, however he’s solely performed in a single sport within the final three weeks; in fact, he scored 38 in a highway win towards the defending champs. Goran Dragić has appeared rusty after lacking almost your complete season, however he was notoriously a Celtics killer in a Warmth jersey.
The Celtics, then again, have been the image of consistency because the new 12 months. They’ve had far and away one of the best protection in 2022 with a 102.7 defensive ranking together with holding the Hawks and Grizzlies, two of the league’s finest offenses, to 98 and 107 factors respectively this week. In two Nets blowouts in February, Brooklyn averaged simply 98.5 factors per sport. The offense has steadily improved via the 12 months and thru 13 video games in February and March, they’re a top-8 crew with a 117.2 offensive ranking.
If it comes right down to a duel between Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum, I’ll take Tatum at TD Backyard. Since beginning within the All-Star Recreation for KD, JT is averaging 30 factors on over 45% capturing from the sphere. He’s been aggressively driving extra and turn into extra of a playmaker within the second half of the season. As head coach Ime Udoka told NBA Today’s Malika Andrews on Friday, “he’s a bucket and he can get 30 in his sleep.” The Sunday matinee tipoff shouldn’t be an issue then.
Take a look at DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook companion of SB Nation.
