The Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics will meet again for a first-round NBA playoff match-up; we explore 3 big questions and a prediction.
This season the Eastern Conference was a powerhouse, and a good portion of the teams left have a legit chance at making it to the Finals. A rematch of the first round in last year’s East playoffs is set to happen again. Boston as the seventh-seed lost to Brooklyn, the two-seed. Roles have reversed this year as Boston is the two-seed, with Brooklyn earning the seventh-seed in the Play-In tournament.
Boston was booted from the first round in five games last season. I don’t think Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are going to let the Nets walk away with an easy victory. Brooklyn also has their aces in Kevin Durant (KD) and Kyrie Irving.
Irving has some history with Boston. Their relationship did not end smoothly and there’s absolutely still some bad blood there. A fan threw a water bottle at Kyrie Irving after Game 4 of the first-round playoffs last year. Irving’s answer after the 141-126 victory was simply to step on the Celtics mascot ‘Lucky’ at center court. That did not go down smoothly with Boston players past and present.
It’s safe to say that this series will have extra importance to it. Boston wants to avenge their first-round exit from last year. The Nets have the NBA’s greatest natural scorer ever in Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving will be ready to hand Boston another one-way ticket to the offseason.
Brooklyn vs Boston is going to be an extremely entertaining series. Will Boston’s elite young duo be able to get past KD, Kyrie, and the rest of the Nets?