Final: Celtics 139, Nets 114 - Tatum dominates in needed bounceback

BOSTON CELTICS (9-3) at BROOKLYN NETS

Barclays Center, 7:30 p.m. - NBCS Boston

Line: Boston -8.5

INJURIES

Boston: Kristaps Porzingis (OUT, ankle), Al Horford (OUT, toe), Jaden Springer (OUT, knee)

Brooklyn: Bojan Bogdanovic (OUT, foot), Day’Ron Sharpe (OUT, hamstring), Trendon Watford (OUT, hamstring), Dorian Finney-Smith (QUESTIONABLE, ankle), Ben Simmons (QUESTIONABLE, calf)

THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR

1. Better start: For the love of everything holy can we get a good start to this game so we don’t have to ponder this championship hangover stuff any longer? They got away with it twice and it burned them last night, so now let’s see some better focus from the get-go. 

2. Ball movement: Part of why the passing was so bad is that the offense was too stagnant. They weren’t moving the way they usually do. There was more dribbling and less stretching the defense, which meant the passes were stationary on top of being lazy. Let’s see them move the ball and generate some good looks. 

3. Rebounding: Super obvious but how about clearing the defensive boards and ending their possessions? The Celtics were the league’s best defensive rebounding team last year. Right now they're 17th. This can’t all just be chalked up to Kristaps Porzingis not being healthy. The rest of the team has to step up.

Follow along with my thoughts as the game goes on. They’ll show up below and in the comments section, so hop in and share your opinion as well.