It will technically be a rematch when the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets open their first-round series at TD Garden on Sunday, but it’s nothing like last season. Some of the strategic stuff is the same, I think – both teams like to switch, both want to limit the other team’s easy stuff – but Boston now has the best defense in the NBA (but is missing an important part of it, for now), Brooklyn has a new Big 3 (but the new guy is missing for now) and the new Celtics manager was on the Nets staff last time out.
Mid-season roster changes mean only one of the regular-season matchups is relevant: A 126-120 win in Boston on March 6 that saw Jayson Tatum explode for 54 points. It’s worth noting that Robert Williams III, who will miss at least the start of this series with a knee injury, played 37 minutes that afternoon, and LaMarcus Aldridge, who wasn’t in the Nets’ rotation at the end of the regular season and didn’t appear in their play-in game, played 23 minutes.
Without Williams, is the Celtics’ switch-heavy defense more vulnerable to Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving’s isolations? Probably, but their defense is still excellent. Without Ben Simmons, is Brooklyn just too small to handle Boston’s wings? Maybe, but Simmons could come back. Would this be a great Conference Finals matchup if both teams were complete? Absolutely. But here we are.
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Boston Celtics (2) vs. Brooklyn Nets (7)
Boston leads series 1-0
All times Easter
- Game 1 (at BOS): Celtics 115, Nets 114
- Game 2 (at BOS): Wednesday April 20 | 7 p.m. | TV: TNT
- Game 3 (at BKN): Saturday April 23 | open | TV: ESPN
- Game 4 (at BKN): Monday April 25 | open | TV: open minded
- Game 5* (at BOS): Wednesday April 27 | open | TV: open minded
- Game 6* (at BKN): Friday April 29 | open | TV: open minded
- Game 7* (at BOS): Sunday May 1st | open | TV: open minded
*If necessary
Featured Game | Boston Celtics vs. Brooklyn Nets
1. It’s matchup hunting season
Both teams like to make changes, but the Celtics do it more often and more effectively. If Brooklyn goes matchup hunting, it may not get the matchup it wants. Boston is switching ahead to keep its best defenders on opposing stars, and it’s pushing its smaller defenders out of post-ups. The Celtics want to force the Nets into “one-on-one” basketball, but it’s not really one-on-one — helping long-armed defenders will be in the gaps, trying to force Durant and Irving into contested jumpers. The danger is that Durant and Irving have won many games by making contested jumpers.
“It’s a contrast between two things that two teams do extremely well,” said Boston coach Ime Udoka.
How Brooklyn handles the move will determine how much help the Celtics send. Nets coach Steve Nash said he wants the Nets “to have some discipline to keep playing and not just settle for isolation situations,” meaning ignoring the switches, taking actions, slipping off the screens and trying to Boston cause to make mistakes. The Celtics don’t usually make many mistakes, but they’re more expensive when Williams isn’t there to clean them up.
Bruce Brown made headlines when he said Brooklyn was going to Boston’s bigs, but nobody cared when Udoka said the Celtics would tease the Nets’ guards: “With their lineups that they start with, they play sometimes much smaller with [Patty] mills and [Seth] curry, irving, [Goran] Dragic and the guys out there sometimes. With our size and versatility, there are some advantageous positions for us. So things to attack there.”
Brooklyn’s starting backcourt — Irving and Curry — is unusually small, and Nash has played against three of those guards together at times. The Celtics are huge in comparison and the Nets will have a harder time avoiding mismatches. In theory, however, the strategy is the same: if you can’t prevent a mismatch, then you have to react to it with help defense and double teams. However, when it comes to slowing down Tatum, this stuff is a lot less effective than it used to be.
2. Brooklyn on the boards
Their backcourt is tiny, but the Nets aren’t exactly a small team. The roster is full of big men and in that March game they rebounded a third of their misses, which is not an uncommon occurrence. With starting center Andre Drummond on the floor, Brooklyn had an offensive rebound percentage of 34.7 percent. (The Memphis Grizzlies have recovered a best 33.8 percent of their missed shots in the league this season.)
Boston is a mid-range defensive-rebound team, but that’s one of the risks of switching everything around. With Al Horford or Daniel Theis Irving guarding on the perimeter, it becomes harder to keep Drummond and backup center Nicolas Claxton off the glass. Along with open looks for the Nets shooters and “Bruce Brown’s energy,” Udoka mentioned “Drummond and Claxton’s second chance points” as an area of concern.
Unlike Drummond, Claxton isn’t one of the best offensive rebounders of all time. However, he has improved when it comes to rebounding in traffic and he has added what he calls “adult strength”.
If Marcus Smart and Derrick White can box Claxton out, it will make it harder for him to stay grounded. However, if he helps Brooklyn on the boards, he could steal some of Drummond’s minutes – and maybe even the starting spot. One day Claxton could be the Nets version of Williams. Right now, he offers more defensive versatility and vertical clearance than her other center options.
3. The race against time
Until Simmons is available, Brooklyn is far less versatile than Boston. Rookie forward Kessler Edwards, the No. 44 draft pick, is an X-Factor because without Joe Harris, the Nets don’t have anyone resembling a 3-and-D wing. They were without James Johnson to convert Edwards’ two-way contract to a standard contract and they must hope Edwards’ uninspiring eight minutes of play-in play was not a harbinger of the future. If Brooklyn decides it needs more size to handle Tatum and Jaylen Brown, he’s the guy.
Simmons’ presence wouldn’t fill the hole in the wing, but it would make it less important. He would immediately improve her defense, transition game, and rebounds, and he would give Nash more lineup flexibility, albeit only for 10 to 15 minutes per game early on. The problem is that by the time Simmons is ready to play, the Nets may be in a desperate situation. The Celtics could also have Time Lord by then.
No one in Brooklyn is publicly pressuring Simmons with words. However, there’s only one way for his teammates to take the pressure off: to prove they don’t need Simmons to save them. Taking one of the first two on the road would be a good start.