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It was close, until it wasn’t. The Brooklyn Nets hung around for about a half, but the Boston Celtics separated themselves from the Nets and cruised to a 37 point win. The streak is now at seven losses in a row.
The opponent tonight is climbing the charts in the Eastern Conference. The Cleveland Cavaliers are looking a bit different these days, but they keep on keeping on. The team was up three in the final seconds of regulation against the Detroit Pistons on Friday night, but they fouled up three… while the Pistons threw up a heave from halfcourt. Detroit made all three free throws and he Cavs wound up losing in overtime. THAT’S WHY YOU DON’T FOUL UP THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where to follow the game
YES Network on TV. Gotham Sports on streaming. WFAN on radio. Tip after 3:30 p.m. ET.
🤕 Injuries
Nic Claxton is questionable with a right thumb sprain. Egor Demin is out. The three two-ways remain with Long Island who plays the Westchester Knicks at 3:00 p.m. ET. (If you like, you can watch the first quarter of that game here)
The following are out:
- Donovan Mitchell
- Dean Wade
- Max Strus
- Keon Ellis
James Harden is questionable with a right thumb fracture.
🏀 The game
Cleveland won the first two meetings. This is the last meeting between the teams this season.
A lot of former Nets in the house today. Dennis Schroeder is starting for former Net Harden and the former Nets coach, Kenny Atkinson, is in the house! Scoop B caught up with Kenny a few weeks back and got to reminiscing
Sometimes you reminisce on bad memories!
The Nets have to avoid the one big run. When you’re at a talent deficit in the ways Brooklyn are, you can’t afford to let a team go on a big run and put you deep in a hole. Being at home should help that out, but it’s the team’s third game in four nights so who knows.
Nolan Traore will look to put another good outing together. He tied a career high with three steals on Friday night and the next two months should help his growth. He’s done a good job of finding his way throughout the year and good games like build confidence that will carry him in to next season.
Without Mitchell and Harden at less than full strength, Michael Porter Jr is the player most likely to hit for 30+ points tonight. He’s started to find his shot in recent games after a slump, and now that we are officially entering the time of year when people start to focus more on the playoff contenders, he’ll be a bit more under the radar than usual. Either way, seeing him start to figure things out again is helpful and will make the last two months of the season entertaining enough.
👀 Player to watch: Jarrett Allen
It’s always fun to watch a player to go on the run of a lifetime. Allen had the best month of his career in February as he averaged around 22 points and 11 rebounds a night on 74 percent shooting from the field. Allen has leveled up in a special way and has the coaches thinking of ways to build on his momentum.
“We just got to keep him there,“ Kenny Atkinson said after the game on Friday. ”You know, it’s our job as coaches to keep him in this great, great space. But I loved his energy tonight.”
If Allen can play anything close to this level in April and May, then the Cavs have a chance to do something really special.
Nic Claxton will look to slow JA down on the inside. A matchup against a resurgent Allen should be a great warmup for the back-to-back he’ll have against Bam Adebayo next week in Miami.
📺 From the Vault
We are officially on the Road to WrestleMania!
More reading: Fear the Sword, SB Nation NBA, New York Post, New York Daily News, Clutch Points, Nets Wire, Steve’s Newsletter
- Brooklyn Nets Game Notes – Brooklyn Nets
- Cleveland Cavaliers Game Notes – Cleveland Cavaliers
- Brooklyn takes on Cleveland, seeks to stop 7-game slide – AP
- Is James Harden playing today? Cavs vs. Nets injury report – Malik Brown – Clutch Points