The Celtics look to bounce back from their first home loss as they host the Brooklyn Nets. This is the first of 4 meetings between these two teams this season. They will face off again on November 13 in Brooklyn and then on March 15 in Brooklyn and finally, on March 18 in Boston. The Celtics won the series 4-0 last season. The Celtics are 141-73 overall all time against the Nets and they are 75-33 all time in Boston.

This is the first of 3 road games for the Nets and the first night of back to back games for them. They will play the Cavaliers on Saturday and then at the Pelicans. They will then return home to face the Celtics on Wednesday. The Celtics are playing in their second straight home game. They will head to Milwaukee on Sunday and then home against the Hawks on Tuesday and back to back at Brooklyn on Wednesday.

The Celtics stood pat for the most part in the off season, bringing back their entire core of players and losing just Svi Mykhailiuk and Oshae Brissett. They added Baylor Scheierman, who was the 30th pick in the draft and signed 2nd round pick, Anton Watson to a 2 way contract. They have one open roster spot that they are likely to keep open in case of injury during the season. It also is apparent that several of the returning Celtics have improved quite a bit over the summer.

The Nets decided to go into a rebuild mode this season when they traded their most valuable player, Mikal Bridges, to the Knicks. They received Shake Milton in a sign and trade from the Knicks. They got Bojan Bogdanovic and Ziaire Williams from Memphis. They received their own ‘25 and ‘26 draft picks back from Houston and 5 first round picks in the Bridges trade. They lost Keita Bates-Diop, Jacob Gilyard, Dennis Smith, Jr, and Lonnie Walker IV.

The Celtics will be without Kristaps Porzingis, who is still rehabbing from off season ankle surgery and is not expected back until December. Jaylen Brown will miss his fourth straight game with a hip injury. I’m going to guess that Joe Mazzulla will once again start the double bigs with Queta starting again. Luke Kornet is doubtful for this game after leaving Wednesday’s game with hamstring tightness.

Bojan Bogdanovic will miss this game while he continues to rehab from off season foot surgery. He has yet to suit up and play this season. Day’Ron Sharpe will be out until at least mid November with a hamstring strain. Trendon Watford is expected to miss at least the Nets’ 3 game road trip with a hamstring injury. Noah Clowney is questionable with an illness.

Probable Celtics Starters

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Celtics Reserves
Payton Pritchard
Luke Kornet
Jaden Springer
Xavier Tillman, Sr
Jordan Walsh
Sam Hauser

2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Anton Watson

Injuries/Out
Kristaps Porzingis (ankle) out
Jaylen Brown (hip) out
Baylor Scheierman (GLeague) out
Luke Kornet (hamsting) doubtful

Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla

Probable Nets Starters

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Nets Reserves
Keon Johnson
Shake Milton
Ben Simmons
Dariq Whitehead
Ziaire Williams
Jalen Wilson

2 Way Players
Jaylen Martin
Tyrese Martin
Cui Yongsi

Injuries/Out
Bojan Bogdanovic (foot) out
Day’Ron Sharpe (hamstring) out
Trendon Watford (hamstring) out
Noah Clowney (illness) questionable

Head Coach
Jordi Fernandez

Key Matchups

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  Derrick White
  
  
  Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images
  

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  Cam Thomas
  
  
  Photo by Elsa/Getty Images
  

Derrick White vs Cam Thomas
Thomas is averaging 24.9 points, 3.1 rebounds 3.1 assists and 1 steal per game. He is shooting 42.3% from the field and 30.6% from beyond the arc. The Celtics definitely need to defend him well. Derrick White has been playing very well to help make up for the absence of Jaylen Brown and the Celtics will need him to continue to step up his game in this one.

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  Jrue Holiday
  
  
  Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images
  

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  Dennis Schroder
  
  
  Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images
  

Jrue Holiday vs Dennis Schroder
Schroder is averaging 19.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 1.4 steals. He is shooting 50.5% from the field and 49% from beyond the arc. The Celtics must defend him both inside and out as he is shooting very well. They also have to play him for the pass as he has been moving the ball very well.

Honorable Mention
Jayson Tatum vs Cam Johnson
Johnson is averaging 16.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game. He is shooting 36.4% from the field and 45.5% from beyond the arc. The Celtics need to especially stay with Johnson on the perimeter as he is shooting very well from there.

Keys to the Game
Defense – Defense is always the key to winning. The Celtics are 7th in the league with a defensive rating of 109.3. The Nets are 19th in the league with a defensive rating of 114.2. The Nets are averaging 113.5 points per game (15th). The Celtics are 3rd in the league averaging 122.3 points per game. The Celtics have to especially guard the perimeter as the Nets are 6th with 40.1 three pointers attempted per game. On Wednesday, the Celtics allowed the Warriors to shoot 41.2% on threes. The Celtics have to defend much better in this one.

Rebound – The Celtics must box out and crash the boards. They can’t score without the ball and it will take extra effort on their part beat the Nets on the boards. The Nets are 29th with 39 rebounds per game. The Celtics are 18th with 44.1 rebounds per game. The Celtics were out rebounded 53-47 on Wednesday and they need to do better in this game. The Celtics have to put out more effort to get to the rebounds before the Nets and prevent second and third chance shots.

Be Aggressive – The Celtics have to come out and be aggressive right from the opening tip. They have to be aggressive on defense, driving to the basket, rebounding, diving for loose balls and just playing harder in general. What the Nets lack in star power, they make up for with effort. The Celtics need to match their effort and aggressiveness. They also have to play hard right up until the final buzzer. This Nets team without stars play hard and win by giving more effort than their opponents.

Move the Ball and Play the Right Way – At times against the Warriors, especially at the end, the Celtics stopped moving the ball and players tried to do too much instead of playing team ball. They weren’t moving the ball and they were rushing shots. They had just 22 assists for the game. They need to trust each other and not lapse into hero ball. They have to get back to playing Celtics ball, especially on defense.

X-Factors
Home Game and Bounce Back – The Celtics played very well at home last season, losing only 4 games at the TD Garden all season. They need to feed off the energy of the crowd and hopefully, the Nets will be distracted by travel and the very loud crowd. The Celtics need to take losing on their home court personally and bounce back to win this one. The Celtics need to protect home court.

Officiating – The officiating is always an x-factor. Some referees call the game tight and others let them play. Some favor the home team and others call it evenly. Some refs just seem to have an agenda that doesn’t fit the events on the court. At times they miss important calls that change the momentum of the game. The Celtics need to play well enough not to leave the game in the hands of the officials at the end and they can’t let bad calls take away from their focus.

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