The Nets took care of business in Brooklyn on Tuesday to secure a first-round matchup with the Celtics, who have been the hottest team in the NBA since the calendar flipped to 2022.
Still, NBA analyst Antonio Daniels likes the Nets to take down Boston behind the offensive firepower of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
“I would take them over the Celtics,” Daniels said on The Zach Gelb Show on Tuesday night, as Brooklyn was finishing off its victory. “I know it sounds crazy. If I had to… I would take the Nets over Boston.
“This is an offensive league. When you have Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant…you have the most skilled duo in the league. In an NBA where offense is rewarded, these two dudes on a nightly basis are so hard to guard…this is what makes Brooklyn so dangerous. You have two guys that are capable of winning two games by themselves.”
When asked about the matchup after Tuesday’s win, Brooklyn’s Bruce Brown mentioned the absence of Robert Williams for the Celtics, and the space that can open up in the paint with Williams expected to miss the series with an injury. Durant didn’t care for Brown’s seemingly over-confident analysis, but Daniels believes that is going to be the difference-maker in the series.
“There’s no Robert Williams that’s available right now…there’s a reason they were No. 1 in defensive efficiency all season long,” Daniels said. “That’s because they had Robert Williams anchoring that defense. You remove him and his two blocks per game out of the equation, it changes things.”
While Daniels sees the Nets flexing their talent to get past Boston, he doesn’t see an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in their future unless they get healthy themselves, specifically Ben Simmons, who has yet to play a single minute all season.
“They need that other guy,” Daniels said. “If Ben Simmons is there and he is mentally and physically healthy…I could see them possibly advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals. But without Ben Simmons, I think it’s a matter of time before their ability to score the basketball and not get defensive stops situationally will catch up to them.”
The entire NBA conversation between Daniels and Gelb can be accessed in the audio player above.