Boston Celtics: Pros & cons of facing the Brooklyn Nets in round one

Boston Celtics v. Brooklyn Nets playoff matchup: Cons

Now, while we certainly stand by our notion that top-heavy rosters can only take a team so far, with the talents of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving leading the way, it’s far from an egregious statement to say that they alone can get the Brooklyn Nets past the first round of the playoffs.

They’re that fricken good!

Brooklyn’s down year has, in large, been due to inconsistent rotations caused by missed games from these two future first-ballot Hall of Famers and, since Irving’s return to the team on a full-time basis, they’ve gone 6-4 whilst seeing a four-game winning streak to close out the regular season–all but one were double-digit margins of victory.

Despite the fact that they are seasoned veterans with unbelievably impressive pasts from production standpoints, both players are producing at arguably the best rates of their illustrious careers.

In year 15, Durant finds himself posting stellar per-game averages of 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and just shy of a steal and a block on 52 percent shooting from the floor and 38 percent shooting from deep while Irving, who’s in year 11, is putting up 27.4 points, 5.8 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.4 steals on 47 percent shooting from the floor and 42 percent shooting from distance.

Yes, we know in the previous slide we mentioned that Marcus Smart could go on to spell Irving while the Jays could do a tag team type of approach on Durant, but these tasks, regardless of how talented the players may be, are a lot easier said than done.

We’re talking about the greatest ball-handler of all time and arguably the greatest scorer of all time–the objective is automatically an uphill battle, regardless of who’s on the defensive side of the ball.

On top of all this, the energy required to simply try to contain both of these players would be so extreme that, in theory, it could wind up making each of these key players for the C’s completely exhausted, thus ultimately impacting their efficiency and production on the offensive side of the ball.

The objective of the game is to put the most points on the scoreboard and, should the Boston Celtics stars struggle to get into an offensive groove, you best believe Brooklyn’s all-time talents will look to capitalize.