This series right here is high on the must see board of the opening round. One team has that has underachieved for most of the season against a team that every one has winning the East at least if not the Championship. The Boston Celtics, the 7th seed after defeating the Washington Wizards on Tuesday Night. on the other side, the Brooklyn Nets, the 2nd seed in the East.
This series gets started on Saturday, May 22.
Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets, the favorites to come out of the East, finished second behind the Philadelphia 76ers in the East with a record of 48-24. The headline all offseason and most of the season was the Nets. Kevin Durant returning from his Achilles injury, Kyrie Irving returning from shoulder injury to a team that made the playoffs last season inside the bubble. Then they went and added James Harden in a mega trade with Houston and Indiana. The Big 3 formed in the Brooklyn, but these three stars have only played a handful of games as Durant dealt with injuries as well as James Harden. Landry Shamet has been a good addition as he had some great games filling for either Harden or Irving. Jeff Green has proved valuable for the Nets as well. Now, the Big three is all ready to go for the Playoffs so this should be interesting to see especially for this series as the first.
Boston Celtics
One of the most disappointing teams of the season has to be the Celtics. Despite being in the playoffs, they had to fight their way in. Defeating the Washington Wizards, 118-100 on Tuesday night, gave the C's the 7th seed in the East to play the Brooklyn Nets. Jayson Tatum had to score 50 points with 32 of them coming in the 2nd half for the Celtics to pull away from the Wizards. Kemba Walker added 29 points. Losing Jaylen Brown right before the season ended put the Celtics in an uphill battle throughout the playoffs. Tatum and Walker passed test one on Tuesday night, but the test has now gotten extremely harder beginning on Saturday.
Keys to The Series
Brooklyn Nets: The Big Three all seem to be healthy at this point, question being is that can they co-exist with each other? Harden, Irving, and Durant are all prolific scorers of the ball. They also can be playmakers as well setting each other up or other teammates to score. Jeff Green proves great plays on the both ends. Joe Harris is their sniper and Shamet is another scorer. Plain and simple, the Brooklyn Nets just need to be the Brooklyn Nets. One of the most prolific scoring teams in the league (2nd Best) at 118.6 points per game. Just be the Nets, no team has the fire power to match the Nets in the East.
Boston Celtics: Jayson Tatum gon do his thing as proven on Tuesday night dropping 50 points. Kemba Walker had 29 points which is a good sign because he needs to step up in this series to help Tatum without Jaylen Brown. Marcus Smart has to become the third man on the team. Evan Fourier must be that shooter and Peyton Pritchard must become instant offense off the bench. It's going to take the Celtics elevating into the team we expected them to be without Brown to pull this off.
Matchups to Watch
Kevin Durant versus Jayson Tatum
Kyrie Irving versus Kemba Walker
James Harden versus Marcus Smart
Evan Fourier scoring versus Joe Harris scoring
My Prediction: Brooklyn wins series in 6
Game 1: Saturday, May 22 8:00PM on ABC
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