The stage now is set for another playoff meeting between the Brooklyn Nets and the Boston Celtics.
The Nets earned the right to battle the Celtics in Round 1 with an NBA play-in tournament game win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night. Kyrie Irving led the way for Brooklyn at Barclays Center, scoring 34 points while dishing out 12 assists.
Irving hasn’t shied away from sharing his feelings about the Celtics and the city of Boston, both with his words and other actions. But unlike Nets teammate Bruce Brown, the star point guard didn’t give the C’s any bulletin-board material when he looked ahead to the best-of-seven series Tuesday.
“It’s going to be a great test,” Irving told reporters, per MassLive. “I know that team very well — and they know us very well. It’ll be a back-and-forth, and once you throw that ball in the air, you’re going to see some spectacular basketball. So I’m looking forward to it.”
Irving added: “It starts with really slowing JT (Jayson Tatum) down. He has a great feel playing against us. Everyone else around is very complementary to that attack. When JT’s getting doubled and Marcus Smart is pushing the pace, (Jaylen Brown is) playing well, hitting shots, Al Horford’s dominating offensive rebounds, and Daniel Theis filling in for Robert Williams — it’s big.”
The Celtics-Nets matchup is slated to begin Sunday at TD Garden. Tipoff for Game 1 is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET.
