Celtics vs Nets Game 2 | NBA Betting Analysis

The Brooklyn Nets are favored to win their first-ever NBA title and they looked very much the part in the second half in beating the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoff series. The Nets are solid favorites on the NBA odds to make it 2-0 on Tuesday night.

How to Bet Celtics at Nets NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 7:30 PM ET
Where: Barclays Center
TV: TNT
Stream: TNT app
Radio:com

Why Bet on Boston? | NBA Betting Analysis

The Celtics lost Game 1 of this series 104-93 in Brooklyn on Saturday. The teams were locked in a one-possession contest midway through the fourth quarter before Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant helped the Nets pull away.

Irving and Durant combined to score nine straight points from the 6:38 mark of the final period to the 5:08 mark. By the time that stretch ended, the Nets had pulled ahead by 12 – their largest lead of the game – and they went on to comfortably close things out.

Celtics star Jayson Tatum shot just 6-of-20 from the field and 9-of-11 from the foul line, finishing with 22 points, five assists and three rebounds. Tatum made just one shot outside of the paint in Game 1, and he went 0-of-2 from the field in the fourth quarter as Brooklyn pulled away.

Kemba Walker was held to 15 points on 5-for-16 shooting with just two assists in 27 minutes. It may have been nothing more than a rough outing, as he has scored at least 20 points in seven of his last nine contests. Marcus Smart had 17 points, five assists and three rebounds. Smart delivered a much better performance than the one he posted in the play-in win over the Wizards, where he ended with seven points. The defensive specialist has gone 16 straight games without reaching the 20-point mark.

Robert Williams played 22 minutes in Saturday’s loss to the Nets, recording a line of 11 points, nine rebounds, one assist, one steal and nine blocks. Williams made his return to game action after missing time due to turf toe in his left foot, and Brad Stevens made the decision to bring the young center off the bench. Williams finished one rebound and one block shy of a triple-double, establishing a franchise playoff record in the latter category. The single-game blocks record was previously held by Bill Russell and Kendrick Perkins (seven). Williams, who had not played a full game in more than a month, made it through the entire contest and finished as one of only three Celtics with a positive plus/minus rating.

Jabari Parker stepped up as well off the bench and delivered a strong, nine-point, four-rebound, one-assist, one-block effort. During his 22 minutes of action, the Celtics outscored Brooklyn by seven points; without him on the court, they were outscored by 18.

“I think one of the things when you start thinking about how you’re going to guard (Kevin) Durant and (James) Harden and the bigs and all that stuff, and obviously (Kyrie) Irving, but we did a lot of switching. So obviously Jabari has real size and he’s long. I thought he did a good job today on both ends,” Stevens said.

Why Bet on Brooklyn? | NBA Betting Analysis

In the 104-93 Game 1 win, the Nets opened the third quarter with an 18-4 run to finish wiping out a 12-point first-half deficit and never trailed over the final 20 minutes to draw the early series lead. Brooklyn held Boston to 40 second-half points on 32.5 percent shooting, including 15.3 percent from 3-point range, at the same time finding its own footing on the offensive end after a shaky shooting start.

With a three-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, the Nets locked up the game with a decisive 17-3 run to go up by 17 points with two minutes remaining. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant combined for the first 12 points of that run.

Durant made his return to playoff action with 32 points and 12 rebounds. It was the 39th playoff double-double and 63rd 30-point playoff game as he took the court in the postseason for the first time since injuring his Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals.

“We prepared over the last five or six days, our principles and details and guys locked in on what they needed to do individually,” Durant said. “You just feel the season, you feel it in the air that it’s playoff time. So guys are understanding how much it takes each possession for us to be on a level of playing great basketball. It’s tough to do in the playoffs. So it’s a good place to be right now. I’m glad we’re here, I’m glad that we got this first one, but we’ve got to get ready for Game 2.”

Irving had 29 points, six rebounds, an assist and a block across 37 minutes. James Harden delivered 21 points, rebounds, eight assists, four steals and a block across 36 minutes. Harden hadn’t scored 20 or more points since the end of March, but he’s looked impressive since returning from injury and has been making an impact on both ends of the court.

Jeff Green finished a plus-14 in 26:32, including a stellar plus-10 in 10:29 fourth-quarter minutes. His defense helped the Nets cool off Boston star Jayson Tatum, who shot 0-for-6 in the second half. Green has now appeared in the playoffs for an NBA record-tying seven teams.

The Nets know in Game 2, though, they’re going to have to be more cognizant of Boston’s Robert Williams after he had those nine blocks in the opener.

“We’ll just be more aware going into Game 2,” Irving said. “He’s shifting over every single time on every one of our drives, so we’ve just got to be a little bit smarter. But his timing is amazing.”

Game Trends

Celtics are 15-5-1 ATS in their last 21 Conference Quarterfinals games.
Celtics are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
Celtics are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 playoff games as an underdog.
Nets are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games as a home favorite.
Nets are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 home games vs. a team with a losing road record.
Nets are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 home games.