Not a huge surprise the Celtics will advance given I had the Celts above the roster shallow Nets on my Playoff Poll, but a sweep verges on the cusp of a disgrace for Kevin Durant.
The end perhaps for Kevin along with LeBron and Westbrook as well. I would think Harden’s future hangs with the immediate future of Joel Embiid’s thumb.
You gotta have a team around you in the playoffs when you’re playing against a good team every night.
There’s no space for Durant in this series. It’s like he’s out there playing with Perk, Andre, Steven, or Thabo. Two Nets aren’t having to play their man honestly. They’re waiting for Kevin every time he touches the ball. No space, no time, no baskets.
This is a lot like those OKC-Memphis series when the Grizzlies got in Kevin’s grill from the opening tip till the final gun. The only difference is this time it’s former O State player Marcus Smart instead of former O State/Eddie Sutton stopper Tony Allen.
This is what I’m talking about with Sam Presti. I hope he learns from this, from his previous roster mismanagement mistakes.
The Nets in reality are the 7th best team in the East and are very much playing like it.
Jayson Tatum is emerging as a superstar and Marcus Smart is that perfect blue-collar second tier type player to compliment him. Presti coveted Marcus Smart back in the day. My O State basketball guy told me Presti was always all over the notion of somehow getting Marcus Smart for the Thunder. Too bad it didn’t happen, but in my mind, Lu Dort has the chance of being Marcus Smart Lite if he becomes efficient with his shot selection.
Even as a Sooner, I always loved Marcus. He plays with passion and emotion. He’s a kid with a tough past who was raised by a single mom just like Joe Mixon. But through it all, like Joe Mixon he’s stuck with it and worked through the rough edges.
I’ll be torn if the Bucks play the Celtics.
Anyway…congrats so far to the Celtics who have turned their season around the last six or so weeks. It starts with defense, then physicality, then your finishers hitting their shots. This is not complex.