Post#11 » by ecuhus1981 » Fri Dec 25, 2020 4:47 am
I like our chances. As others have said, Boston will be more engaged than in our preseason game.
Irving vs. Smart will be interesting for the referees. Do they side with the offensive player, or let then play through contact? I don't think that Stevens will make the same mistake of putting Marcus on Kevin, so whichever PG sets the officiating tone will decide much of the game.
I want to see Durant dominate Tatum on both ends. I believe he's shown he's lithe and explosive enough to be our best defender, and we'll need his best against Jayson. One thing that many shutdown defenders don't have against the young star is that KD can make him work on the other end.
Jaylen is the sort of long, strong and bouncy athlete that I worry about Joe guarding. The best thing that Harris can contribute is to be his typical energizer bunny self, and run tirelessly through screens and hedges for open shots. One critique I have of Harris is that, relative to other elite shooters today, he doesn't draw nearly enough fouls from beyond the arc. I'm not asking him to flop; I'm really glad he doesn't. He just has to make defenders respect his airspace. Too often, late but aggressive rotations make him pass instead of receive contact while shooting, when he could instead get to the FT line and get the opposition into foul trouble.
As strange as it sounds, Spencer may have to defend Tristan or Daniel for long stretches. They are going with a bully ball approach, so he'll either get 4 steals or 4 fouls in a hurry. Staying on the court and breaking down his man off the dribble sounds simple, but it'll be key.
DJ is barbecue chicken in this match-up, I fear. Undersized bigs who can bang and outwork Jordan tend to take him out of the rest of his game, and they have a bunch of those guys. Theis should boost his resume for free agency next summer with this game.
Our bench should outplay theirs by a large degree, and I honestly feel that Steve's coaching has been top tier just like Brad.
PREDICTION: NETS 110, CELTICS 103
Some people really have a way with words. Other people... not... have... way.
-- Steve Martin