Almost one season later, the Boston Celtics find themselves likely to face the same team that sent them packing from the 2021 NBA playoffs their ostensible opponent for the first round of the 2022 East postseason, the Brooklyn Nets.
This time, their positions in the Eastern Conference standings have flipped from last season, and the Celtics look like the more complete of the two teams. But, as good as Boston has played in the second half of the season, it does not have the best player in the series, a frequent indicator of how many postseason series will go.
Can the Celtics hope rising superstar Jayson Tatum has grown his game enough to hold back a Brooklyn roster with Kyrie Irving and quite possibly Ben Simmons on it and available to play?
ESPN’s Tim Legler and Max Kellerman recently debated how well Tatum might be prepared to compete with Durant and the rest of the Nets, how Jaylen Brown and the rest of Tatum’s teammates match up with Brooklyn, and more on a recent episode of “This Just In;” watch the clip embedded above to hear their takes.
This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!
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