Boston Celtics vs. Brooklyn Nets: Preseason Preview #8

Who is ready for round two?

The Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets each close out their preseasons in TD Garden tonight, in what will wind up being the second of three-straight games they play against one another.

Not that it matters terribly, but a win tonight would secure a winning record for the Celtics this preseason – baby steps!  A loss, meanwhile, would mean the Celtics finished their tune-up for the regular season at .500, which isn’t disappointing by any stretch of the imagination.

The last time these two teams met was Sunday afternoon, when the Celtics used a huge third quarter to escape the Barclays Center with a 95-90 win in a shortened, 44-minute experimental game.  As has been the case so often this preseason, Boston got a huge performance from the under-sized power forward, Jared Sullinger, who was once again incredibly effective.  Logging just a few ticks over 28 minutes of PT, Sully led the Celtics in scoring (21 pts.) and rebounds (19), shooting 7-of-15 from the field, including 3-of-5 from deep.

Impressive.  Have to say it: Sullinger is starting to make me think twice about asking him to stop shooting the three-ball at the end of last season.

Also impressive Sunday: four players on the Boston Celtics swiped the ball from the Nets at least two times, while not one single player from Brooklyn managed more than on steal.  When it was all said and done, the Celtics have accumulated 11 steals, to Brooklyn’s skimpy 3, a sign that coach Brad Stevens has his players buying into the notion that it will be aggressive, swarming defense that gives the Celtics their best shot at winning games in 2014-2015.

 Stevens alluded to his team’s best shot at winning games yesterday:

"“I think we need to utilize our depth,” Stevens said on Monday. “We have enough depth and it’s one of our strengths, and we need to use it as a strength.”The second-year coach will use his team’s depth as a strength by dispersing minutes across the roster, a move his players support.“I think we have more guys at multiple positions that we’re able to interchange and rotate, which makes the rotation a lot better so we can play at an up-tempo style and it doesn’t slow down the pace when you sub,” said veteran Gerald Wallace. “Our guys can come in and keep the same level of intensity that the starters have once [Stevens] subs.”Wallace is referencing intensity at both ends of the court. Stevens has harped on playing with great pace on offense, but he’s also asking his players to bring it at the defensive end.“We’re asking these guys to play at a pretty high octane defensively, especially the guys picking the ball up the length of the court,” Stevens said. “It’s more important to play hard and well and with great intensity than to tack on two or three more minutes.”"

Can the Celtics continue to use 8-9 guys a game to wear opponents down?  They’ll get one more chance to find out, before the $#*^ gets real!

Tonight’s game begins at 7:30 tonight, and can be seen on CSN HD.  Enjoy!