BOSTON -- And in the latest episode of Mondays with Brooklyn...
That lead-in may seem a bit dramatic, but that’s where we are now with the Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets, who are playing for the third time this month, with all three games being on Mondays.
And like any good drama, this one has a bit of intrigue and tension.
If you recall in Episode 1 back at the TD Garden on Jan. 7, the Celtics ran roughshod over the Nets.
A team known for its scrappy play, Brooklyn looked more like a team headed for the scrapheap with the Celtics delivering a dominant 116-95 beatdown.
The outcome wasn’t all that shocking, but the final score?
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Yeah, a little bit.
Two things stick out about that game - Boston’s ball movement and Brooklyn’s sloppy play.
The Celtics had 37 assists on 47 made baskets, giving them their fourth consecutive game with 30 or more assists. And the Nets committed a season-high 25 turnovers which may have been in part because it was their third game in four nights with all three on the road.
“That was kind of the old Nets,” Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters after the game. “That was a big problem of ours last year and beginning of this year.”
Cue the fade to black.
We move on to Brooklyn for a Jan. 14 tilt, a game that, going in, felt different. Less than 48 hours earlier, the Celtics had lost at Orlando. With a chance to win it in the closing seconds, Gordon Hayward inbounded the ball to Jayson Tatum who took a tough, highly contested baseline jumper as time expired.
Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving stood near the 3-point line and, with his hands extended in Hayward’s direction, was clearly bothered by Hayward’s decision to get the ball to Tatum instead of Al Horford or himself.
And as that scene played out across the globe, it only fueled questions and concerns about whether the Celtics were on the same page.
The way Boston played for most of the Nets game only raised more questions with the Nets pulling away in the second half to lead by as many as 27 while taking a 24-point lead into the fourth.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens emptied the bench, which turned out to be a good thing for Boston as they somehow climbed back into the game and were one made basket away from making it a one-possession game. Still, the valiant effort wasn’t enough as the Nets hung on for a seven-point win to even the season series at 1-1 in addition to snapping Boston’s 10-game winning streak over Brooklyn.
Cue the fade to black.
And that brings us to tonight’s return trip to the TD Garden, where the Celtics are looking to get back on track after a hard-fought, 115-111 loss to the two-time defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors.
Boston will be without Irving tonight. He's out with a left hip strain.
While, until tonight, the Celtics have fielded lineups lately with all their core players, the same can’t be said for Brooklyn, which has won six in a row - the longest current winning streak in the East. Tonight, the Nets will come in without Spencer Dinwiddie (torn ligaments, right thumb) and former Boston College star Jared Dudley (left hamstring strain). Also, Treveon Graham (sore lower back) and Joe Harris (right hip soreness) are questionable, which means half of Brooklyn’s top six players are out or questionable with injuries.
Can the Celtics get back on their winning ways? Will the Nets overcome injuries to beat Boston again this season?
Intrigue. Drama.
- MORE C'S - Warriors player calls Hayward "a liability"
Just another episode of Mondays with Brooklyn.
THE END.
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