NBA Playoffs 2022 on Tuesday, 26.04.2022
I think I could tell, just from the body language and impressions last Saturday, that the bookies’ top overall win favourite at the start of the season isn’t going anywhere!
Indeed, the Brooklyn Nets’ backs are against the wall against the Boston Celtics tonight! One more loss and the New Yorkers are out! In my Nets Celtics tip, meanwhile, I’m holding out for a win for the Green and Whites again for a reason.
It was a mirror image this weekend of what we’ve already seen from Kevin Durant in the two previous games. Namely, the Celtics’ defence reads KD and his colleagues like an open book.
The 33-year-old is averaging just 22 points (36.5%) over the series – despite literally outplaying Boston in last year’s first-round match-up with scores that were almost double that.
His teammate Kyrie Irving summed up the problem in an interview after the game: “The C’s are a team that found each other at Christmas, while the Nets are still not harmonising as a collective.
What stands out in New York’s 103-109 loss in Game 3 is that they were actually equal to the visitors in almost every area. Whether we focus on rebounds, points from the zone or free throws.
But I’ll say it in all clarity: The Celtics’ defence is perhaps the best NBA defence I’ve seen in the last five years! Especially since they have been able to consistently chain a player of Kevin Durant’s calibre.
The only question left for me is whether the Green and Whites will put the lid on tonight or ship the Series back to Boston once again – personally, I’m leaning towards the former!
I’d actually have to give the New Yorkers the edge – much like the Raptors did against the Sixers in Game 3 – to go above and beyond once again in this hugely important game from their perspective.
Especially since Ben Simmons is finally back! We remember: the Australian moved from the Sixers to Brooklyn just before the trade deadline in exchange for James Harden, (although this was certainly not an equal swap).
While basketball fans are always used to great performances from the No. 1 pick of the 2016 NBA Draft, one thing makes me extremely sceptical! The long-term injury victim played his last basketball game to date on June 20, 2021.
Ben Simmons will thus lack a lot of game practice to turn things around against a team that has literally shut KD down over three games! While the visitors seem to have settled on Durantula, that doesn’t mean his teammates will have an easier time of it.
Because Kyrie Irving didn’t convert any of his seven three-point attempts in Game 3 on Saturday! He hasn’t had much to say from distance in this series anyway, because the Celtics defence really seems to be omnipresent.
Last but not least, let’s not forget that Boston has not only won the three playoffs games against Brooklyn so far since the beginning of the year, but also the last three duels of the Regular Season!
Conclusion: Normally, I’d give the Nets the benefit of the doubt tonight, as they say in English. Especially now that Ben Simmons is back and they need to win at all costs!
But the Australian has not been on the floor for almost a year. Also, the visitors have shut down Kevin Durant in three games without losing sight of Kyrie Irving at any point.
As long as the C’s defend their perimeter so outrageously well, there’s no getting by Brooklyn. While a win for the home side can’t be completely ruled out, I’m sticking to my gut feeling based on their body language!
My Nets Boston tip is: The C’s move on to the next round with (4:0)
