Brooklyn Nets Looking to Get Revenge Tonight
Tonight’s main event of the night consists of the clash between two of the best teams in the East. The Brooklyn Nets started the season slow as a snail, with all kinds of intern and extern problems, whether it was because of the now infamous Kyrie incident, Ben Simmons’ willingness to give 100% for the organization, or Kevin Durant’s comments about the roster. After all the backlash around those stories went off, Brooklyn seems that they are slowly getting back where they are supposed to be, winning 7 of their last 10 matches (currently on a 4-game winning streak).
Boston Celtics, though, are yet again a nut tough to break this season, and their record speaks for themselves, as the Celtics hold the number one spot in the standings, with an 18-5 record and 8-2 in the last 10 matches. Jayson Tatum started as hot as it can get, elevating himself to the number 1 spot in the NBA MVP Ladder, and if he continues to be consistent every night, alongside his fellow teammate Jaylen Brown, who also plays at a very high level, Boston Celtics can make the NBA Finals again.
Coming back to tonight’s game, the Brooklyn Nets are looking to end Boston’s 7-game winning streak. The last time the Nets beat them was last year on 25 November, so it’s safe to say that Boston got their number after the 2020-2021 season when Brooklyn eliminated them in 5 games.
Ben Simmons and Yuta Watanabe will be out. Simmons was diagnosed with a left lateral upper calf strain, while Watanabe will continue to receive treatment on his right hamstring as an MRI confirmed that it was a strain, and he will be reassessed in a week. Those are two important players for the Nets; Ben started to find his rhythm and look like his old self and Watanabe showed us all that he can shoot the ball well, shocking the entire league with his current percentages on 3s (57% 3P%, leading the league in this category). For the Celtics, Marcus Smart appears to be day-to-day on the injury report, so it is not clear until now if he will get to play tonight. He is the only notable player that is uncertain for this contest.
Even though the odds are in favor of Boston, the Nets should be able to finally put an end to the Celtic’s dominance on their home floor. Kyrie Irving has to step up and make it all clear to everybody that he is now heavily focused only on the game of basketball and nothing else. It is to be expected that both Kyrie and Kevin Durant will have a big night, and will overcome the very good form of the Celtics duo. With a win tonight, the momentum could shift in their favor, so that could be the click they are desperately looking after from the start of this season.
