My best bet: Kyrie Irving Under 30.5 points ( -108 at FanDuel) I’m banking on a similar outcome tonight. Irving scored just 24 points on 9-of-24 shooting from the field when these two teams last played on January 12. He’s up to eight assists per game in his last five, and it’s quite possible that he’ll respond to elevated Celtics ball pressure by dishing more. In most of those games, he wasn’t even the primary defensive concern, which he will be tonight with Durant’s absence.Īnother factor is that Irving has begun trusting his teammates more, and they’ve rewarded him by knocking down umpteen 3s in the last several games. In three of the four games he played against the Celtics in the 2022 playoffs, he scored 20 or fewer points. In nine playoff games, he’s averaging just 23.2. In his last six regular season games against the Celtics, Irving has averaged 25.5 points. Their 4-0 sweep of the Nets in last season’s playoffs was the first time I ever saw Durant wilt under that kind of physicality.
In addition to forcing opponents into taking the least valuable shots overall, Boston also has a bevy of wings and bigger guards who grind on opposing stars. Even Kyrie – a true three-level scorer – has struggled against the Celtics when denied his usual shot diet. They manage to marry the second stingiest rim defense in the NBA with the seventh-lowest opponent 3-point rate, per Cleaning the Glass. His defense is somewhat replicable by a combination of Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon, both of whom provide a combination of size, good hands, and the ability to slide that will make Irving work for every bucket.īoston’s defensive shot profile is also second to none. Ironically, despite his being the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, the Celtics clearly miss Marcus Smart more on offense than defense. They’re Top 5 in defensive rating for the season, and have played at a better level than that over their last six games, per Cleaning the Glass. The Celtics have been slipping a bit recently, but not on defense. But Boston has proven something like kryptonite for the former Duke guard in recent years, and that’s a big part of the reason I’m shorting his points prop tonight. The recently announced 2023 All-Star starter is up to 33.2 points per game over his last five, doing an admirable job of stepping into the oversized shoes of Kevin Durant, who remains out with a knee injury. Kyrie Irving has been on a heater recently for the Nets. Celtics believe that Boston will be able to put a damper on Irving’s recent hot stretch. Our NBA picks and predictions for Nets vs. Having squared off in two consecutive playoff series, and with a third far from unlikely, both teams will be highly motivated to win on Wednesday, February 1. The Nets, meanwhile, continue to rally around Kyrie Irving in the absence of Kevin Durant, and will look to avenge a loss to Boston from just over two weeks ago. The Celtics have been the NBA’s best team this season but haven’t been playing to their exceptional standard of late. It may not officially be NBA Rivals Week anymore, but there’s no denying the developing animosity between the Brooklyn Nets and the Boston Celtics.
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