Boston Celtics: 3 bold predictions for the C’s first round playoff series

Boston Celtics bold prediction No. 1: The Celtics will win in six games

A lot of the talk in the buildup to this series has centered around just how even these teams are on the court. In reality though, these teams aren’t as close as many are making them out to be, and the Celtics should have a considerable advantage over Brooklyn throughout this series.

So much of Brooklyn’s production relies on Durant and Irving, to a point where if one them doesn’t show up, they have virtually no chance of winning unless the other has a career-defining performance. For example, in their Play-In game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Durant and Irving combined to either score or assist 91 of the Nets 115 points. If you replace either of them with a replacement level player, the game isn’t even close.

Not only do the Celtics offer a much more balanced offensive attack, but they have the means to slow down Irving and Durant, even if it’s just for short stretches of time. Tatum and Brown are both very good defensively, and while no one can truly shut down Durant, they are going to give him his toughest test of the season. Smart and Derrick White will combine to guard Irving, which is another daunting test for the skilled point guard.

Both guys are going to get their points much like Tatum and Brown will, but what happens if one of them goes cold? Who on the Nets roster can step up and score a bucket to end a cold stretch aside from these two? So far, nobody has proven capable aside from maybe Bruce Brown every once in awhile.

In the end, depth prevails. It’s going to be a lot easier for the Celtics to figure out how to slow down two guys than it’s going to be for the Nets to figure out how to slow down an entire team. Unless Simmons can return and play at an All-Star level, I don’t see this series being as close as everyone thinks it will be. Celtics in six.