Los Boston Celtics have finished their regular season in the best possible way, reaping the number two seed, but they will have to face Brooklyn Nets in his first round of Playoffs. Let’s review the keys of the series.
Playoffs Ronda 1: Celtics vs Nets
The year of both teams has been a carousel of mixed emotions. For one thing, the Celtics started their regular season erratically and didn’t find their game until mid-January.
Everything changed in 2022. The team of Ime Udoka consolidated what was already insinuating on the defensive side and with the changes in the NBA trade deadlinewas able to take a leap forward in its attack to position itself as one of the best teams in the competition.
The low of Robert Williams (meniscal tear) is a concern for those of Massachusetts for everything it offers, especially for its importance in defensively protecting your basketbut they have managed to mitigate the absence of the former Texas A&M with the step forward Daniel Theis y Al Horford.
In New York, things did not start much better. Kyrie Irving was absent the first months of competition due to his decision not to get vaccinated against the COVID-19, which kept him out of the courts. To top, James Harden He showed physical problems and his discomfort due to the situation experienced in the franchise began to be rumored.
The Efficiency Landscape. What Jumps Out? pic.twitter.com/acsVmmeDcZ
— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) April 15, 2022
Kevin Durant has been the only unalterable variable in the set of Steve Nashbut a knee injury kept him away from the courts for a month and a half.
The absence of KD was the main sporting factor in the Nets’ precipitous fall from the top positions in the East to their near exit from the Play In. This accelerated the steps for Irving’s return (at least as a visitor) and the final departure of “the Beard” to Philadephia.
The Nets were only able to consolidate their rotation in the last month and a half, where they have shown irregularity and high dependence on their figures, but in the last 15 days they have begun to find some positive dynamics that they must urgently consolidate for the Playoffs.
Celtics and Nets, with opposing sports realities, armed with dissimilar squads and diametrically opposed collective functioning, face each other in the first round of the postseason: Here are the keys.
The Keys of Celtics vs. Nets
Tatum and Durant, top offensive exponents of their teams
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The Brooklyn Nets have had to force the march this last month in search of getting into the Playoffs. To do this, both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant had to increase the time on the court to achieve this goal.
Durant hasn’t averaged that many minutes on the floor since his MVP season, which is a concern for Nash, as is Irving, who since returning to both home and road play has seen his play dwindle on consecutive days.
On the other hand, the Celtics had to reconfigure what was built after the loss of Time Lord and until the last game put their starters in pursuit of securing home court advantage in the first two rounds.
The configuration of the series gives greater rest to the figures of the New Yorkers who will be able to maintain the minutes of their high rotation with the rest days, it also gives margin to both the Celtics and the Nets, to perhaps bring in this series Robert Williams or Ben Simmons.
Boston, are you ready? ☘️#CelticPride pic.twitter.com/O6D4c2kTOT
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 13, 2022
Kevin Durant is the best player in the series in the previous one, there is no discussion in this section. The big question that arises is whether KD will get the step up from any of the rotation players not named Kyrie Irving.
Boston with a more choral team and a game with a greater distribution of responsibilities seems to have an advantage in this section, but it is relative at the moment in that its game has not been tested in times of the Playoffs, where responsibility and pressure are pressing.
Nash’s roster is full of seasoned players who have been through a thousand battles in previous years and know what it’s like to go through these processes. beyond that Patty Mills, Goran Dragic and other exponents have not yielded what was expected, they are still players who can put the greens in serious difficulties if they are neglected.
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum ended the season being the most efficient duo in the league in the offensive section, now they will have to replicate it in the most important moment of the year and especially in the game. clutchwhere New Yorkers move like a fish in water.
The closing of hard-fought games is the biggest mole that Ime Udoka’s squad has. Throughout the competition they failed to consolidate themselves and carry out this type of situation against elite teams and in the Playoffs, where this item becomes key, it leaves open a gigantic question mark.
Do the Brooklyn Nets have the elements to stop Jayson Tatum? Other than Kevin Durant, Nash’s roster doesn’t have another similarly profiled player to take on one of the league’s top scorers. An efficient Tatum will force Durant to wear down defensively and this could be one of the key points of the series.
Daniel Theis and Al Horford, targeted by Bruce Brown in defense at the end of the Play In match, they will be key behind to stop Drummond (performing well in recent games), but will be more important on the other side. How much space the Jays can get in the paint will depend on his level of effectiveness from long range.
The Dominican and the German come with good numbers and were key to the offensive step forward, their success becomes of vital importance so that this series does not turn into a funnel in the last five minutes of the game.
From the defensive section, the Celtics will not be able to stop Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving; their resources are limitless in that sense. What Udoka’s men cannot allow is that secondary players pass double digits in scoring (Brown, Drummond, Mills, Dragic, Curry).
If the Nets’ supporting cast becomes important, then the first Playoff Series will be the last for the Greens. Stopping plugins is a must.
DO NOT OVERREACT, so in bold and capital letters they have to have the Celtics tattooed on their heads before uncontrolled success passages of the Brooklyn figures. Both KD and Irving will have them, so Boston must not lose its course or the established game plan, this is inevitable, talent prevails, but coldness and concentration also do it if you do not want to give the rival tools.
Ultimately, the biggest challenge for the Boston Celtics heading into the playoffs is to replicate all the good they’ve done in recent months, trust what they’ve built and not fall back on the vices of yesteryear, even when things aren’t working out.
Boston is a superior team to the Nets, but it will have to replicate it and translate it against two of the best scorers of all time.
If you were left wanting more analysis, here we leave you the latest podcast with all the preview of the Playoffs series.
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