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The Brooklyn Nets were hoping Ben Simmons would make his season and team debut on Monday in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference playoff series vs. Boston but he will not. The Nets are very short favorites on the NBA odds to avoid the sweep.

How to Bet Celtics at Nets NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Monday, 7 PM ET
Where: Barclays Center
TV: TNT
Stream: TNT app
Radio: Tunein.com
NBA Odds: Nets -1 (total 220)

Why Bet on Boston?

The Celtics were short road underdogs in Game 3 but won 109-103 to take a 3-0 series lead. Jayson Tatum was brilliant with 39 points, a playoff career-high six steals along with five rebounds and six assists. With less than 10 seconds left, Tatum put the final touches on the win. He got a steal from a bad Kevin Durant pass and drove down the court for a thunderous slam.

Tatum Michael Jordan as the only players to score at least 39 points and have at least six assists, five rebounds, and six steals in a playoff game since 1980. He’s also the first Celtic to have 35/5/5/5 in a playoff game during that timespan.

It wasn’t the most efficient evening for Tatum as he shot just 13-of-29 from the field, his defense should not go overlooked by any means – he was a big part of the reason Durant was only able to take 11 shots. In isolation, Tatum is suffocating Durant’s space, and if Durant tries to put the ball on the floor there’s a second defender, if not two of them, collapsing on him to deflect passes or force him to stop in his tracks, pivot all over, and look for a bailout.

Jaylen Brown had 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting (4-of-4 FTs) along with five assists and four rebounds. Brown and Jayson Tatum combined for 62 of the Celtics’ 109 points. Brown has scored at least 22 points in each of the first three games of the series.

Robert Williams (left meniscus) came off the bench in his return to action on Saturday, going for two points, two boards, one assist and one block in 16 minutes. A better measure of his impact showed up in the advanced metrics, as his net rating of 22.9 was by far the best of anyone who played at least 15 minutes.

Williams was initially given a 4-to-6- week timetable to return on March 30, but he was back in 3.5 weeks. Williams said he had “no problems at all” with his knee after the game. He probably will start this game.

“Rob looked pretty damn good to me,” Brown said following the game. “Came back, instant impact, what he’s been doing all year, protecting the rim, had some big blocks, some lobs – it was great to see him catch a lob, that was uplifting for everybody. Just his presence being there on the floor, knowing he’s behind us makes us feel good.”

Why Bet on Brooklyn?

Kevin Durant is a first-ballot Hall of Famer and one of the best players ever but he simply hasn’t been great in this series. He only had 16 points with five turnovers in 46 minutes of Game 3. The Celtics defense was hounding Durant all night and not allowing him to shoot much. Durant is managing 36.5% (19-for-52) from the field in three straight losses to the Celtics and has not been able to find any rhythm against Boston’s tenacious defense. After averaging over 30 points a game through March and April, Durant is putting up just 22 points per contest over the first three games of this series.

“I was just thinking too much to be honest, this whole series,” Durant said. “Like how I approach the game. We got another game to play, another opportunity, and I’m looking forward to that.”

Kyrie Irving also had just 16 points in 43 minutes of Game 3. Although Irving was able to pass the ball around to get him close to a double-double with nine assists, he had a horrible shooting night overall. He went 0-of-7 beyond the arc in the loss, and his shooting woes were mostly due to Marcus Smart, who almost never yielded an uncontested shot.

Coach Steve Nash thinks both Durant and Irving are tired: “Kyrie’s fasting and Kevin had to play 40-plus minutes for five, six weeks after missing six, seven weeks. We need him to play 40 minutes or we wouldn’t be in the playoffs. I’m sure that’s taken a big toll on Kevin, he’s carried a huge burden for us for weeks on end.”

The Nets are down 3-0 in the series for the fourth time since 2000 (2020 First Round series vs. Toronto – lost 4-0, 2005 First Round series vs. Miami – lost 4-0 and 2002 NBA Finals vs. L.A. Lakers – lost 4-0).

Ben Simmons will again not play in Game 4. It was reported ahead of Game 3 that Simmons, who has yet to appear in a game this season, planned on making his Nets debut for Game 4 regardless of where the series was. Simmons woke up Sunday morning with back pain after going through a workout ahead of Game 3.