#5 The Kyrie Irving revenge tour continues, and its latest stop is in Boston.

The Kyrie Irving revenge tour continues, and its latest stop is in Boston. After beating the Cavaliers in the NBA Play-In Tournament, the Nets now face off against the Celtics in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. The first game of the series will take place on Sunday, April 17. Boston won the season series against the Nets, 3-1. Brooklyn, however, was without both Kevin Durant https://www.incoltsstore.com/indianapolis-colts-home-office and Irving for two of those four matchups. The Celtics finished the regular season with a record of 51-31, earning them the No. 2 overall seed in the East. Boston had the top defense in the league, giving up 106.2 points per 100 po se sions. The Celtics also had a top-10 offense (ninth overall) with 113.6 points per 100 po se sions. Brooklyn, meanwhile, dealt with i sues like injuries, COVID protocols and trades all season long. The Nets finished No. 7 overall in the East with a record of 44-38. Brooklyn had the 10th best offense (113.2 points per 100 po se sions) but was near the bottom of the league in defense (20th overall, 112.3 points per 100 po se sions). NBA LEAGUE PASS: Sign up to unlock live out-of-market games (7-day free trial) After defeating the Cavs, the Nets are heading into the matchup against the Celtics with a lot of momentum. They won their last four regular season games and both Durant and Irving are healthy. Boston, though, is ready for Brooklyn. First-year head coach Ime Udoka has turned Boston into an elite defensive team, and both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown can more than carry the Celtics on offense https://www.incoltsstore.com/t-j-carrie-jerseys . All signs are pointing towards Nets-Celtics being a must-watch first-round series.Here's everything you need to know about the matchup. (NBAE via Getty Images) Key storyline: Can the Nets stop Boston's offense?After a slow start to the season, Boston morphed into a defensive powerhouse, smothering teams with its length, speed, versatility and toughne s. "It's Celtics defense suffocating our opponents at times, https://www.incoltsstore.com/peyton-manning-hoodies-sweatshirts with our size and versatility," Celtics head coach . "We've got big wings, our bigs, and obviously a pitbull Marcus Smart for a point guard. There's no real weakne s out there, nobody to pick on, which is the case with other teams sometimes." But while Boston's defense has been elite, its offense has been excellent as well. In late January, the Celtics started playing more unselfishly and dramatically improved offensively by sharing the ball and hunting mismatches. This was a product of becoming more familiar with Udoka's system as well as Tatum's continued growth and superstar emergence. An All-Star for the third straight year, Tatum finished the season averaging career-highs acro s the board with 26.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.4 a sists. He shot 45.3 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from three. While his numbers are impre sive, Tatum has also improved at reading defenses and playing out of double teams. Plus, Tatum and Jaylen Brown have continued to grow together, learning to play off each https://www.incoltsstore.com/jordan-glasgow-jerseys other and take charge on offense when needed. The tandem is one of the more potent offensive duos in the league. They both went on a tear near the end of March and in early April, combining to score at least 50 points over eight games. Jayson/Jaylen PTS last 8 games31 3223 2834 3126 2636 2530 3032 3026 26 StatMuse (@statmuse) With Tatum finishing seventh overall in scoring and Brown 13th, the Celtics are just one of two teams with players ranked inside the top 15 in points per game. The Tatum-Brown duo and overall consistency of Boston's offense will be an i sue for the Nets. Besides Bruce Brown, Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons, who remains out, the Nets don't have any consistently good defenders. Defense is just not part of Brooklyn's DNA. Their whole game plan is to simply outscore their opponents. And while that https://www.incoltsstore.com/joe-reitz-jerseys can at times be very succe sful especially when you have Durant and Kyrie Irving the Nets may not be able to outscore Boston's fabulous offense. Celtics vs. Nets schedule, TV channelsCeltics vs. Nets opens at Boston's TD Garden on Sunday, April 17. As the higher seed, Boston will be the home team in Games 1 and 2 while Brooklyn will host Games 3 and 4. Viewers in the U.S. can stream every NBA playoff game live on SLING TV. With the SLING Orange Sports Extra package, get $10 off your first month now with acce s to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, TNT and NBATV. NBA Playoff games on ABC are simulcast on ESPN3, which is included with SLING Orange, available for $35 per month including $25 the first month for new subscribers. MORE: A potential Game 5 and 7 would also be played in Boston. (All times Eastern) DateGameTimeNational TV (US)April 17Game 13:30 p.m.ABCApril 20Game 27 p.m.TNTApril 23Game 3TBDESPNApril 25Game 4TBDTBDApril 27Game 5*TBDTBDApril 29Game 6*TBDTBDMay 1Game 7*TBDTBD*If nece sary Celtics vs. Nets oddsCeltics:+115 Nets:-145 Odds provided by. Celtics vs. Nets predictionsScott Rafferty: Celtics in six games Micah Adams:Nets in seven games Steph Noh: Celtics in six games Ananth Pandian:Celtics in seven games Carlan https://www.incoltsstore.com/braden-smith-jerseys Gay: Nets in seven games Kyle Irving:Celtics in six games