Boston Celtics: 3 keys to a win over the Brooklyn Nets in Game One

Boston Celtics key to victory No.3) The ancillary guys

While the two most important players on the Boston Celtics are Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, those surrounding the duo will play a major role in Game One and, frankly, the postseason as a whole.

In order to stifle the Nets, the C’s need solid performances from Grant Williams, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, and Daniel Theis.

Not every single one of those four needs to have a double-digit scoring output or a lockdown defensive game.

Frankly, it comes down to efficiency.

Boston cannot afford a poor shooting performance from White or Pritchard and fans should have confidence that those poor outings are in the past.

Down the stretch, the bench backcourt duo performed quite well with at least one of the two posting double figures in each game in the month of April.

As for Grant Williams, he simply needs to play his game. The third-year big has developed into a reliable 3-point shooter for this squad, finishing 16th in the entire NBA in long-range percentage.

Seeing that just fifteen players in the whole association shot more efficiently from deep than Grant Williams is mindboggling.

Finally, there’s the 6-9 German big man who has returned to the team that originally made him a valued rotational piece.

Daniel Theis has been a solid role player since his return to Boston and has helped the Celtics down the stretch.

While his stats on a nightly basis are not eye-popping, the former Rocket has scored in double figures in three straight games leading into the postseason. Theis spaces the floor well enough to pull Drummond or Claxton away from the basket and should help the C’s space the floor.

If Boston can take advantage of Brooklyn’s subs, dominate the paint, and get some relief from the surrounding products, Game One could easily be a Celtic win.