Boston Celtics’ Defense Holds Up
The Brooklyn Nets’ Bruce Brown had an interesting comment following the team’s play-in win.
Brown handed the Boston Celtics some bulletin-board material, saying, “Now they don’t have Robert Williams, so they have less of a presence in the paint.” Brown named specific players, adding, “We can attack Al Horford and [Daniel] Theis. Them not having Robert Williams is huge.”
He’s right that Williams’ injury is a significant loss for Boston. Durant downplayed his teammates’ comments, saying, “That’s caffeine pride talking. They got two dudes that can do the same stuff. It ain’t gonna be that easy.” But there’s still some merit to Brown’s point.
Williams is a dynamic switching big, capable of covering players of all archetypes and guarding the rim, and roaming off the ball.
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However, the Celtics’ defense will hold up in his absence. The Celtics feature a deep roster of big wings with lateral quickness, and bigs Theis and Horford have shown they can hold up as defensive anchors in Williams’ stead.
The Nets don’t have too many dynamic offensive creators outside of Durant and Irving. Guards like Seth Curry and Patty Mills will be able to knock down threes if left open, but much of the offensive burden will fall on the Nets’ two stars.
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Since the Celtics will be able to key in on Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, their defense should hold up fine in this series.
