Game 3 Final: Celtics 109, Nets 103 - C's stars dominate stretch run

ROUND 1, GAME 3
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Brooklyn Nets
Boston leads 2-0
Barclays Center
7:30 PM - ESPN, NBC Spotrs Boston

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

Boston: Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Daniel Theis

Brooklyn: Kyrie Irving, Seth Curry, Bruce Brown, Kevin Durant, Andre Drummond

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

- Robert Williams will return tonight. According to Ime Udoka, Williams will have a pretty strict 20 minute restriction. 

"The build up has been good," Udoka said. "He's met every benchmark and has had no problems, restrictions, no swelling, pain. And so after the heavy sessions, he's felt really good and so that was kind of what led up to it. And I would say even before this week he was progressing well at all points."

Williams will come off the bench. For Udoka, it's not about getting him in against certain matchups, it's about getting him the right time on and off the court.

"Just playing his normal game and how comfortable he is, getting his confidence back," Udoka said "He's had some good 20-, 25-minute scrimmage sessions. But you can kind of monitor yourself in those at times. And you can't do that so much in the game. So seeing how he feels, reacting to those minutes, the short stints, and then, confidence wise, how he looks and feels out there, which, like I said, everything leading up to this points in positive direction."

- Brooklyn is favored by 3.5

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1. Rob’s impact: Assuming Williams plays, the first and most obvious thing to watch for is what ways he changes the game for the Celtics. There is the obvious defensive shift with him in the game, which could just make life easier on the rest of the defenders. In that regard, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Williams out there in some non-Durant minutes just to keep the Nets in check a little. Those minutes have been problematic for the Celtics, and he can fix some of that. 

Then on offense, he might be the key to getting Tatum free late in games. 

“As much as he does for us defensively, he’s a big time rim threat and offensive rebounder, getting us those extra possessions,” Udoka said. “Where he would step up and help at times, that drop-off is always there.”

All Tatum needs is a little bit of a lane to the basket. If Williams’ return gives Tatum that, then we can see a much higher scoring Celtics team.

2. Durant’s legs: Durant is Sisysphus, and the Celtics defense is the rock he’s being forced to push up the side of the mountain. Between Horford, Grant Williams, and now potentially Robert Williams as well, the Celtics have done a great job of wearing him down. 

But now he’s at home, and Durant will have the extra adrenaline boost of the home crowd and maybe some more home-friendly officiating (though I don’t know that he can really complain about that after taking 20 free throws). Will Durant be able to power through the final minutes of this game, or will the toll of carrying this Nets team for so long be too much for him? 

3. Which other guys step up: As the ol’ cliche’ goes, role players play better at home. So is this a case of Bruce Brown, Goran Dragic, and Curry going off and playing more consistently, or can guys like Grant Williams, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard carry through some of their great play and support Boston’s main players. 

The goal in this series has been to take away the stars and let the rest of the guys figure it out. Grant and Pritchard stepped up with game-changing stretches. This might come down to one of those guys doing it again 

GAME THREAD

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