Now that the Nets have secured the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, they will have to turn their attention to the team that has been the best in the conference since the new year.
The Celtics, who have taken down Brooklyn all three times since turning their season around, will welcome the Nets for game one on Sunday afternoon, and Brooklyn is expecting an immediate battle for its playoff life.
"It's going to be a great test," Kyrie Irving said after taking down one of his former teams in the Cavaliers in Tuesday's play-in game. "I know that team very well, and they know us very well. It'll be a back-and-forth, and once you throw that ball in the air, you're going to see some spectacular basketball. So I'm looking forward to it."
Now, Irving gets ready to take on another former team, one with a fanbase that will certainly voice its displeasure towards Irving given his exit from Boston before signing with the Nets. Irving has already experienced it, but more importantly, has experienced what it's like to try and tame Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum, which he believes will be the key to the series.
"It starts with really slowing JT down," Irving said. "He has a great feel playing against us.
Everyone else around is very complementary to that attack. When JT's getting doubled and Marcus Smart is pushing the pace…Al Horford's dominating offensive rebounds, and Daniel Theis filling in for Robert Williams, it's big."
The last time these two teams squared off, Tatum went off for 54 points while shooting 16-for-30 from the field, 8-for-15 from downtown, and got to the free throw line 17 times. It was a dominant performance that nearly outpaced both Kevin Durant and Irving, who combined to score 56 in the 126-120 loss. So, the Nets know it will be hard to stop Tatum, but they'll have to at least slow him down to have a chance at advancing.
"He's one of those players, you just gotta play hard and see what happens," Durant said. "He's just so talented and skilled and efficient at what he does. We just gotta play hard, and I expect us to."
The Nets entered the season with championship expectations, which they say is still the goal despite injuries and the departure of James Harden. With red-hot Boston awaiting, those expectations will be put to the test right away.
"That group's been together quite a while, and they've made some tweaks to improve their team at both ends of the floor," head coach Steve Nash said. "It will be a great challenge for us."
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