After winning their NBA Play-In Tournament game, the Brooklyn Nets will face the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.

Brooklyn comes into this game as one of the most significant question marks of the postseason. Despite their low seed, the Nets enter the playoffs with some of the best top-end talents in the league. Will Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant’s unstoppable scoring be enough to carry the Nets into the second round?

The Celtics, on the other hand, are the NBA’s hottest team since their resurgence in late January. The Celtics are 26-6 since January 29th, posting the league’s best offensive rating, the league’s best defensive rating, and smashing the second-best in net rating with a +14.8 (Grizzlies are second with +8.8).

For context, the gap between the Celtics in first and the Grizzlies in second is more significant than that between the Grizzlies and the 76ers in 12th in that span.

LATEST NBA NEWS: 5 Bold Predictions Ahead Of 2022 NBA Playoffs

But still, the playoffs can be a different beast. And without Robert Williams III, will the Celtics be the same monster they were to close the regular season?

Let’s look at three predictions for the first-round series between the Brooklyn Nets and the Boston Celtics.