(David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports)
Final: Celtics 136, Nets 86 - Start to finish domination
BOSTON CELTICS vs. BROOKLYN NETS
7:30 p.m., NBCS Boston
Line: Boston -13.5
INJURIES
Boston: Jaylen Brown (OUT, shoulder), Al Horford (OUT, toe), Xavier Tillman (OUT, knee), Jaden Springer (OUT, ankle)
Brooklyn: Ben Simmons (OUT, knee), Dariq Whitehead (OUT, shin)
LAST TIME
Boston dominated the paint early on and then pushed their lead as high as nine thanks to a 3-point explosion from Jayson Tatum. After a back-and-forth start to the second, Boston got some separation when Tatum checked back in. He finished the half with 31 and Boston a 15-point halftime lead. The lead grew to 23 in the third but settled at 16 heading into the fourth. Things got dicey thanks to Cam Thomas’ 12 points and the Nets going 4-8 from 3, but the Celtics held on.
THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR
1. Focus: The Celtics did a good job out of the gates last night. Let’s see if they can do the same. It’ll be a little bit of a different group out there tonight with Brown and Horford out and Porzingis in. The All-Star break is here and these guys need it. Jrue Holiday finished up his media availability with a question about the All-Star game, and he ended with, “I’m going on a break. I can’t wait.”
So they need it. They've earned it. They just have to get through this one game first. It might be messy, though, so don’t lose your minds if it is. They lost to the Detroit Pistons two seasons ago in this game and went to the NBA Finals.
2. Attack but maintain shooting balance: The Nets will gladly exchange 3-pointers for 2-pointers. We saw that early in the game and they were able to hang around thanks to some hot shooting.
“There’s certain teams where they bring it to every game, a variance factor that they’re willing to play with,” Joe Mazzulla said before the game. “It’s a slippery slope when you have a team that plays the variance of their ability to have 33-36 percent 3-point shooters, they shoot a ton of threes, and switch you and force you to kind of play in the post, so every possession you’re looking at a near guaranteed two or a really good shot versus the variance of constant threes … so you kind of have to find that balance.
“I think that’s kind of where we’re at, right, is that balance of how do we get great shots consistently but at the same time, how do we make sure we’re playing sound basketball the way we want to.”
3. Feed Kristaps Porzingis: I’m guessing Jayson Tatum might be on cruise control tonight, so let’s see if he can rack up a bunch of assists by feeding Porzingis. The Nets want to give up post-ups you say? Alright then, let’s test the tensile strength of that strategy.
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.