Let’s try something new. We’re just going to pretend that the last game didn’t exist. We never played the Knicks two nights ago. We are on a clean slate right now. Everything is okay, guys!
Tonight, Brooklyn will be taking on Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics as the Nets will look to get back in the winning column after losing three straight (I mean two straight, wink wink.) Brown’s career year has propelled Boston to be the second best team in the Eastern Conference, even though they haven’t had
Jayson Tatum all season. If the Nets ever needed a victory that to change the energy for the entire team, it would be this one.
Where To Watch
Check out the action at 7:30 p.m. ET on the YES Network and NBA League Pass, as well as streaming on the Gotham Sports App.
Injury Report
The G-League guys — Ben Saraf, Tyson Etienne, E.J. Liddell, and Chaney Johnson — will all be on Long Island duties. Haywood Highsmith is out as well. Highsmith, still recovering from his off-season knee surgery, was expected to be trade piece at the deadline, but with less than two weeks left, that seems uncertain.
For the C’s, Jayson Tatum continues to be on the bench due to his achilles surgery, but it looks like he ciykd possibly return soon, which would be huge of the Beantown title hopes…
Derrick White will rest this one out, which is a blessing for him. Out of the 43 games the Celtics have played, he has only missed one while leading the team in minutes. Josh Minott (left ankle sprain) will sit as well.
The Game
This is the third game between the Atlantic Division rivals. Back in November, the teams split two games. The Celtics won the first contest on November 18 at TD Garden, then it was the Nets turn three days later at Barclays.
During the approach of the start of the season, it had seemed that the Celtics had finally ended their reign of terror in the East. Aside from Tatum, giving up their championship pieces in Jrue Holliday and Kristaps Porzingis was seen as a sign that their dominance had come to an end, calming many between Toronto and Miami. Fast forward to this week and you wonder how anyone could have thought that. After all, they are the Celtics. But it’s not just the greenies history. Jaylen Brown, the highest paid player in the NBA (ever) has made the transition to legitimate superstar.
Through the season, Brown is averaging 29.8 points on 48.8 % from the field. In the last three games, Brown is averaging 34.3 and nine. Not to mention his leadership. After long being looked at as a second option, Brown is proving that he has the skillset and mindset to lead a team of his own. Other members of the Celtics have been making big leaps as well. Derrick White is still one of the best two-way players in the game, Payton Pritchard has emerged as a starting point guard, and Luka Garza, the former Iowa superstar, is contributing well as a stretch five. He’s currently shooting 47.1 % from the 3-point line. If he had enough shot attempts, he’d qualify as the NBA’s second best from beyond the arc. Who knew? Apparently Brad Stevens did.
If the Nets have a chance in this one, it all starts with MPJ and his shooting struggles as of late. Even though he did say to the media that he has been dealing with an MCL sprain, it matters how he can continue to play through it, since he is choosing too. And even though he is only a rookie, Egor has to be better as well. We were riding high when things were going good for him. Now it is time for him to value consistency in his play.
Player To Watch: Payton Pritchard
Pritchard is making the most of his first year as the starting point guard for the Celtics. He is averaging a career high 16.5 points along with 5.4 assists, also tops in his career. Even though he is shooting a career worst 33.7% from downtown, you still have to get up on him as soon as he crosses half court. Where he is most efficient, though, is on isolation situations, where Egor Demin and/or Cam Thomas will have to pay attention to him….
As Hardwood Houdini’s Tyler Watts wrote recently, it’s not just his individual numbers that are stellar.
The advanced metrics are strong for the 27-year-old guard. He has already produced a 0.8 value over replacement player (VORP) and sits well above league average in win shares per 48 minutes. The Celtics have won Pritchard’s 1,051 minutes by 121 points and have the fourth-best offensive rating in the NBA.
Not bad for a 6’1” combo guard who was taken at No. 26 in the 2020 Draft.
From the Vault
If you’re looking for a start date to the Nets current rebuild, February 14, 2024 is as good a date as any. The Nets lost by 50 (sound familiar) to the Celtics, a game which Lucas Kaplan wrote that the Nets had “soiled themselves.”
Days earlier, at the deadline, they had disappointed fans. They had secured Dennis Schroder rather than someone who could be the No. 1 to Mikal Bridges No. 2 and Cam Johnson’s No. 3 … or alternately, trade Bridges and Johnson for picks. There were plenty of offers.
As Mikal Bridges said post-game, “You gotta fix it.”
And fix it, they did. Five days after that monumental loss, they fired Jacque Vaughn, eating a not insignificant piece of his contract. More importantly, they realized that trying the middle road wasn’t working and so the rebuild was on. By April, they had hired Jordi Fernandez, By June, they had sent Bridges to the Knicks for five first rounders, a first round swap and a second while simultaneously getting the Rockets to rejigger their draft picks.
So, sometimes, a 50-point loss can clear the air, change the dynamic.
More reading: Celtics Blog, SB Nation NBA, New York Post, New York Daily News, Clutch Points, Nets Wire, Steve’s Newsletter, City of Nets
- Brooklyn Nets Game Notes – Brooklyn Nets
- Boston Celtics Game Notes – Boston Celtics
- Nets take on the Celtics on 3-game skid – AP
- Jordi Fernandez shoulders blame for Nets’ disastrous stretch: ‘Have to help them’ – Peter Botte – New York Post
- After 54-point loss to Knicks, Nets search for answers and a response ($) – C.J. Holmes – New York Daily News
