Eastern Conference | Round 1 | (2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Brooklyn Nets

[Triple M]

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Nets could have been the actual #1 seed, but I would not dismiss what the Celtics did over their 47 game turnaround. This matchup could easily be ECF quality, and we are getting in the first round.

?? Where is this 12.2 point differential coming from? It's 7.3 per game

https://www.espn.com/nba/standings/_/sort/differential/dir/desc

The graphic is for the 22 Celtics not the 21-22 Celtics, so it counts 46 or 47 games. The Celtics were on 61 win pace the last 3 months with the #2 offense and #1defense over that stretch

[LewisnotMiller]

My understanding was that he converted to Islam last year. Is there some reason to believe it wasn't sincere or whole hearted? I haven't really been following Kyrie's personal life other than his vaccination drama.

My general rule of thumb with Kyrie is that he's sincere in the moment, but changes his mind a lot.

He fasted during Ramadan last year, and he's fasting during Ramadan this year. It's not that complicated, guys.

I think fasting during Ramadan is not too impactful if it's managed properly anyway.
We've had Aussie Rules footballers do it without major impact, and the game is much more demanding physically than basketball.

[Slax]

My understanding was that he converted to Islam last year. Is there some reason to believe it wasn't sincere or whole hearted? I haven't really been following Kyrie's personal life other than his vaccination drama.

My general rule of thumb with Kyrie is that he's sincere in the moment, but changes his mind a lot.

He fasted during Ramadan last year, and he's fasting during Ramadan this year. It's not that complicated, guys.

Ramadan mubarak to him

[Curmudgeon]

Jaylen Brown also observes Ramadan.

[JordansBulls]

This is a reversal of last year. Brooklyn was 2nd and Boston 7th.

[KIRAG]

first game on Sunday starts at 3;30 pm, not sunset yet... Will Kyrie drink any water during the game? He is fasting for Ramadan

I hope this doesn't become an excuse if the Nets lose game 1. Kyrie is weak he hasn't eaten anything due to Ramadan

[Hitachi77]

Kyrie has to be the worlds greatest troll. There's always something new.

Apparently, according to the TNT crew, Hakeem played better early in his career during Ramadan, and worse later. It's good that Kyrie has done it before though, as I'd be very worried (if I were a Nets fan) if this was his first time. I am guessing they load up on food, and more importantly fluids, at night and before the sun comes up.

[Hitachi77]

But yea, for day games, I am guessing he won't drink water. Shocking for someone to not drink water 9 hours before a game, and 2.5 hours during, and to not have their performance impacted.

But then you have night games where you can't drink ~12 hours before, but can start to drink around tip off. I guess that's better.

[jfs1000d]

Someone must tell Celtics that Rob is a younger Drummond and not Kareem.

Those two are not even close as players. Drummond a big body and a legendary rebounder and an absolutely awful passer and defensive player.

Rob is an elite defender, terrific shot blocker and a rangy defender.


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[jfs1000d]

The Nets definitely won more games over the last 20 or so than they did earlier in the season. The Celtics won even more games over that span.

The Nets offensive, defensive and net ratings got better over the last 20 games. The Celtics ratings remained substantially better over that span.

Deeper dive: Looking at the Nets recent schedule, they beat the Pacers, Knicks, Rockets, Magic, Pistons, Blazers etc.

Lost to Bucks, Hornets, Grizzlies, Hawks, Mavs, Raps twice, etc.

They had nice wins over the Heat and Jazz a couple weeks ago. That's about as much credit as I can give them.

But if people want to think the Nets are a juggernaut because they has a stretch of wins over lottery teams, go for it I guess.

I think context is important. KD and Kyrie didn't play in the two losses to the Raps. Kyrie didn't play in the loss to the Mavs (lost on a buzzer beater 3 by Dinwiddie). Most of the other losses were tightly contested games (lost in OT to Bucks by 1 pt, close losses to Hornets, Hawks). We lost to Grizzlies on the road but they have an elite record without Ja and were amazing in that game.

And again, Nets have a lot of continuity issues because the group of guys currently on the floor have not played together much. So they're constantly navigating that as well (which will also be an issue for the Nets in playoffs).

Fwiw I think most people here - including Celtics fans - recognize this was a weird season with a lot of missed games and discontinuity for the Nets, and consider them a dangerous team that plays much better than their regular season record as a whole would suggest. bisme can speak for himself, but I've maintained this whole time that the Nets are a good but not elite team, and my objection is to people exaggerating how well the Nets have performed based on these weird small slices of the season to imply that they are actually dominating the league with KD and Kyrie both back, when a) the sample sizes are very small and unrepresentative, and b) even within those samples, the actual performances have been modestly impressive rather than truly dominant - not a ton of blowouts, only a small number of wins against good playoff teams, really having to reach deep to win critical games against ok teams when playoff hopes are on the line, etc. What I have seen is pretty much a dangerous but deeply flawed team.

Nets don’t defend. And Simmons returning would be a fiasco.

I can’t believe nets fans Simmons can walk on the floor and no practice and just play. Lol.


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[Raps in 4]

I think this goes 7 games. Could go either way. But if Time Lord is back, Celtics win.

[Gurton Buster]

I look at the Celtics as one of the most bi-polar teams I can remember. Have the Cs fans who are saying this will be an easy 4 or 5 game series forgetting how a considerable amount of fans were calling for major roster changes and firing their coach? The second half of the season was impressive no doubt, but the Celtics were also one of the healthiest teams in the league during that stretch and ran into quite a few teams that weren’t fortunate in that regard. Now the Celtics are down one of their key pieces, the last time we saw them without a key contributor they were struggling against the Knicks. Now suddenly they’ve figured it out so much to the extent that they’re going to dominate a team with Durant and Kyrie healthy? I don’t buy that

If you just reduce the Celtics success down to health then your confusion makes sense. That discounts most of why the Celtics have been dominant in 2022

It could be a combination of

1) unsustainable shooting
2) top 3 health in the league
3) opponents being injured/coasting
4) being in try hard mode since February (same rotations same defensive scheme no deviation or experimenting)

You obviously have your viewpoint but lets not pretend like the team didn’t have their best DeRozan/Lowry Raptors regular season impersonation. Teams like those Raps and this years Celtics go try hard in the regular, while teams like the LeBron Cavs or the Bucks just coast because health is the only concern.

Orrrrrr it could be because we have had the #1 defence in the nba by a WIDE margin for 4 months now. And we’ve had the #1 offensive rating since the New Year as well. That ain’t just “trying hard.” Our defence is a league above any team in the nba rn lmao.

[Gurton Buster]

Nets in 4 or 5.

Celtics gonna be destroyed.

Nice analysis bro lmfao.

[kan_t]

It's series that I think the Celtics should win but would have no surprise if the Nets advance. With a healthy KD and Irving you could never rule the Nets out in playoff. But the Celtics are playing so great in the second half that I have to give them the edge. Also it's not like they don't have proven go-to guy in playoff. Tatum has shown that he could take the load.

[Perseus1966]

Someone must tell Celtics that Rob is a younger Drummond and not Kareem.

So they would be better if he doesn’t play?

Of course not.

[Perseus1966]

Someone must tell Celtics that Rob is a younger Drummond and not Kareem.

Those two are not even close as players. Drummond a big body and a legendary rebounder and an absolutely awful passer and defensive player.

Rob is an elite defender, terrific shot blocker and a rangy defender.


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He has 2 assists and 1.5 blocks per game this year.

[SilverQuick]

I picked Celtics in 6 , but if nets win the series i wouldnt be upset. They were no2 seed before Durant injury, so it is not a 2-7 matchup,it is more like 4-5 matchup to me.

[KamikazeK]

This is a reversal of last year. Brooklyn was 2nd and Boston 7th.

Time for some sweet sweet revenge

[Madhouse]

Celtics in 6

[aminiaturebuddha]

I've seen a lot of Celtics fans in the Raps-Sixers thread pulling for the Raptors. I'll return the favour and say that I'm definitely pulling for the Celtics in this series. Aside from Smart, they're just a much more likeable team overall to me.

I really hope Time Lord isn't out too long. He makes a big difference to the Celtics defence, which I think is really the key to the series. If the Celtics can slow the Nets down a little bit by forcing them out of their first and second actions on the offensive end, they should be able to score often enough against the Nets inconsistent defence to take the series.