Game Time: 3:30 PM ET, Sunday, April 17th, 2022 

Venue:   TD Garden, Boston Massachusetts

Where to Watch: ABC

DraftKings:  Spread: Celtics -4; O/U 224

Fanduel:  Spread:  Celtics -4; O/U 224

BetMGM:  Spread: Celtics -4.5; O/U 223.5

Nets: 44-38, 7th place Eastern Conference

Celtics: 51-31, 2nd place Eastern Conference

An NBA Playoffs Game 1 matchup between the 7th place Nets and the 2nd place Celtics.  This game and this whole series comes with a lot of intrigue.  A dozen years ago the former Celtics GM absolutely routed the former Nets GM in a trade of two aging stars for young players and a BUNCH of draft picks.  Immediately it was the wrong deal for the Nets!  Garnett and Pierce were simply never good as Nets and it tanked the entire franchise for a decade!  The Celtics on the other hand had the building blocks of an NBA dynasty… but somehow forgot to move those picks in trades.. The result is the Celtics got good but never got their dynasty.  The Celtics got the closest to a Championship team when they traded for PG Kyrie Irving from the Cleveland Cavaliers… He is all NBA… but after some small struggles and crazy public pronouncements.. Kyrie left the Celtics for the Nets.  The move sent the Celtics scrambling and re-building.  Now they face each other.. Dripping in hate.  The Celtics won 51 games with Two Star players Brown and Tatum.  The Nets won 44 games with a crazy jumbling of 3 great players… then a trade… then they had two great players… but Kyrie couldn’t always play because he didn;t want to get vaccinated or be a good teammate.  So here we are.  We have a total mystery!  Are the Celtics a traditional 2nd place team that will slam the 7th place team easily… Or are the Nets a non-traditional juggernaut who should have 20 more wins if Kyrie could have played all season? After all the Nest Big Two is MUCh better than the very good Celtics Big Two… but what of the other pieces?... Why is the spread just 4 points?... What will happen?... Let’s look at the numbers.

The Brooklyn Nets have Kevin Durant!  The Nest won 7 of their last ten games. They went 3-7 ATS during that stretch.  They had to win a Play-in game to secure their spot in the Playoffs and they did… by beating Cleveland 115-108.  It was also an ATS win.  PG Kyrie Irving was literally unstoppable with 34 points, 12 assists, and 3 rebounds.  His running mate Kevin Durant poured in 25 points with 11 assists.  That is two players on one team getting double digit assists… AND scoring 25+ points each.  They may be the best BIG TWO in the league.  One thing is for certain… Kyrie is well rested after missing 70% of all the games this year while being healthy. SF Kevin Durant is not only a former MVP but when healthy is the best offensive player in the league… The rest of the roster is suspect.  The role players of any importance are C Andre Drummond (given up on by 4 previous teams) and SG Seth Curry (moved by 3 previous teams)... the home grown guys Guard Bruce Brown and Froward Nic Claxton are young second round picks playing above their skill level because of all the attention given to Durant and Irving… either of the young guys could go scoreless or could have a double double and either result will surprise no one.  

The Boston Celtics have a Big Two in SG Jalen Brown and SF Jayson Tatum. It is undeniable… both of these guys are good and they led the Celtics to close-to the best record after New Year’s day in the league.  They have won 7 of their last ten games.  They went 7-3 ATS during that stretch.  They did not need a Play-In tournament, of course.  They did suffer a major calamity right at the end of the season.  Center Robert Williams III suffered a knee injury and will be out for the Celtics until somewhere in the second round of the playoffs (if?)... all the Celtics have to do is get there without him. That is a major disadvantage for the Celtics.  A major advantage is PG Marcus Smart keeps proving that his defensive prowess is unmistakable.  If Marcus is good for 12 points and 4 assists… it is not so impressive… Yet if he also plays lock down defense against opposing guards… Those numbers are gravy!  Too bad they get put to the test against PG Kyrie Irving who has all the dribbling and shooting moves any guard in the league would kill for.  Hope is not all lost for the Celtics though… they are deeper and more well rounded… and they did finish the season as the number 1 defense ijn the league… we just have to see how much of that defense went to the bench with Robert Williams III’s  injury?

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Brooklyn is 45-38 on the season, but 33-47-2 ATS.  They have logged 40 Overs, 41 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 24-17 in road games.

The Celtics are 51-31 on the season, but 45-36-1 ATS.  They have notched 40 Overs, 40 Unders, and 2 Push.

The Nets are 9th in the league in scoring with 112.9 ppg, 13th in rebounds with 44.4 per game, and 13th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8. On defense they rank 18th while allowing 112.2 ppg from opponents.

The Celtics are 12th in the league in scoring with 111.8 ppg, 5th in rebounds with 46.1 per game, and 11th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8.  On defense they rank 1st while holding opponents to 104.5 ppg.

Our prediction for Sunday, April 17th is…..  Nets 118 - Celtics 117

The Nets will get the win and you will have points to put in your pocket.  It will take a game for the Celtics to realize that Daniel Theis is not up for the Center position.  Plus Kyrie has been on a roll and the Celtics may not be able to cool him off.

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Brooklyn is 34-22 ATS versus Boston at Boston since 1996.

Brooklyn is 4-2 ATS vs Boston at Boston the last 3 seasons,

6 of 7 games in this series have gone Over.

Nets: SG Ben Simmons (back) Out ** SG Joe Harris (ankle) Out

Celtics: C Robert Williams III (knee) Out 

Nets: SF Bruce Brown, PF Kevin Durant, C Andre Drummond, PG Kyrie aIrving, SG Seth Curry

Celtics: SF Jayson Tatum, PF Al Horford, C Daniel Theis, SG Jaylen Brown, PG Marcus Smart

Nets: Steve Nash

Celtics Ime Udoka