It’s always fun to watch an NBA rivalry, and watching Boston beat Brooklyn is becoming a habit. Last night, the Celtics won for the 9th time in a row against their eastern opponents.
Boston is undoubtedly the best team in the league so far, but keep in mind, the Nets have done well this season as well, second only to the Celtics in the East. In fact, the Nets have won 18 of their last 20 games! Everything was set up last night for the biggest game of the week, and it looked like this Brooklyn team could finally break the curse on their green rivals.
But again, Jayson Tatum’s side was too strong for the Nets, who will be competing without their star Kevin Durant this week. Although the Celtics are missing Jaylen Brown due to injury, Marcus Smart is back in time to give the best version of the team. The green point guard scored 16 points, dished out 10 assists and dished out 6 rebounds in the win last night.
That’s the ball game pic.twitter.com/rTVuzWTA2B
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 13, 2023
Perhaps the most exciting time for this rivalry was back in the early 2000s with their close proximity and rising stars. At that time, the Celtics were led by Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker, while the Nets (when they were in New Jersey) had Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin as their main stars. In the year In the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals, the Nets were up 4-2 after a lot of trash talking.
Let’s review the last ten matchups between these two, including the Celtics’ impressive 9-game winning streak and the last time the Nets won:
January 12, 2003: 109-98 (Celtics win)
December 4, 2022: 103-92 (Celtics win)
1st round 2021/22 playoffs
Game 1 – April 14, 2022: 115-114 (Celtics win)
Game 2 – April 20, 2022: 107-114 (Celtics win)
Game 3 – April 23, 2022: 109-103 (Celtics win)
Game 4 – April 25, 2022: 116-112 (Celtics win)
March 6, 2022: 126-120 (Celtics win)
February 24, 2022: 129-106 (Celtics win)
February 8, 2022: 126-91 (Celtics win)
November 24, 2021: 104-123 (nets win)
So, the last time Brooklyn beat their opponent was at the end of 2021, which was their first meeting last season. If you continue, you’ll be reminded why this is considered such a great rivalry. During the 2020/21 pandemic, the Nets won all three of their meetings.
April 23, 2021: 104-109 (nets win)
March 11, 2021: 109-121 (nets win)
December 25, 2020: 95-123 (nets win)
The next time both teams will meet on February 1 in Boston, Massachusetts at the TD Garden. Will this be Brooklyn’s chance to clean up their face and prove that this is truly a rivalry worth shouting about?
