The Nets would be heavily favored in the first-round playoff matchup even without Boston’s injury woes. “As a fan of the N.B.A., it’s hard to see those guys losing,” Celtics Coach Brad Stevens said.
Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving spent about as much time on the court together with the Nets this season as it takes to watch a Martin Scorsese movie. The lack of reps is likely to have little impact as the No.2 Nets face the No.7 Boston Celtics, winners of Tuesday’s play-in game over the Washington Wizards, in the first round of the N.B.A. playoffs in the Eastern Conference. The Nets are assembled for the singular purpose of stacking 16 postseason wins, which add up to a championship. They enter the playoffs with all three stars available after Harden returned from a hamstring strain before resting the regular-season finale, which didn’t matter for the team’s playoff seeding. The threesome has the combined credentials for a special postseason. Durant is a two-time champion and won a finals Most Valuable Player Award with Golden State. Irving was a vital member of Cleveland’s 2016 championship. And Harden, a scoring champion and former M.V.P., once played in the finals with Durant in Oklahoma City. But for all their accolades, they were mostly absent from last year’s postseason. Durant was still recovering from his ruptured Achilles’ tendon. Irving dealt with a shoulder injury. And Harden’s Houston Rockets whimpered out of the playoffs, eventually triggering the seismic deal that landed him with the Nets. Individually, they do not have much on the basketball court to prove. Collectively, a successful postseason from the Nets could show that years of planning and plotting by other franchises can all be for nothing. The N.B.A. is a star-driven league and the Nets flex a stacked deck. Here’s what you need to know about their first-round series against the Celtics. Eight games for a total of 202 minutes. Yes, just four more quarters than a playoff series stretched to its max. Durant missed games because of coronavirus health and safety protocols and a hamstring injury. Irving missed time for personal reasons and for a facial contusion near the end of the season.
