Posted on: Dec 5, 2022 02:41 am.
Last updated on: December 5, 2022 02:41 am.
The Brooklyn Nets showed us one thing Sunday night: They’re not in the same league as the Boston Celtics, who swept them out of the playoffs last season. OK, technically they’re in the same league. But you get the picture.
Yes, statement games in the NBA can take place in early December. And when the Celtics came to Brooklyn last night and took control from the start – and without their best defensive player Marcus Smart – they sent a message to the Nets and everyone else in the East that they’re the class of the conference to the contrary is proven. The earliest that can happen is Christmas Day, when they first meet the Milwaukee Bucks.
If you hold a Kevin Durant ticket for MVP, we don’t recommend tearing it up. But consider it a loser that you won’t cash in at the end of June. That’s when the Kings County team will go on summer break if that abomination was any indication.
Players with multiple 30/10 games with 5 3-pointers this season:
– Jaylen Brown
-Jayson Tatum
That’s it. pic.twitter.com/bQRRDC85d0
— StatMuse (@statmuse) December 5, 2022
The loss dropped the Nets to 13-12. Boston (19-5) has won 15 of their last 17 games. The Celtics were 15-to-38 from three-point range, which Durant said was the difference.
“The three-point line. They made six more than we did,” Durant said. “If you look down over the (box score), we were pretty even on everything: rebounds, assists, turnovers equal, fouls. Then you look at the 3-point line. They made one more shot than us and six more threes. They’re the best offense in league history, right? 103 points. The three-point line killed us.”
Note KD’s sarcasm.
We understand where he comes from. But the Celtics had a simple solution to prevent KD from defeating them. Every time he touched the ball in the fourth quarter, he was double-tapped. Has Kyrie Irving risen? Does Seth have curry? Did Joe Harris? No, no and no. It was like they were all channeling Giants coach Brian Daboll (playing to a tie) and Jets quarterback Mike White (57 passes, and none of them went for a TD).
The only New York metro area team that had anything going for them was the Knicks, and that was a hollow victory they had over a Cavs team that played without Jarrett Allen. It was the Bockers’ first home win since Nov. 11, and it was small consolation to metro-area sports fans who let things like this affect their personal and professional lives. Advice: Be careful in the stock market for the next few days because it’s going to rain in Gotham and Wall Street guys are moody. They’re down on the Jets, down on the Giants, down on the Nets, preparing for Aaron Judge’s departure. They have jobs to hold, and with the Dow starting the week in the 34,000 range, their clients may want to escape before it tumbles freely into the high 20s, as it did in late September.
I won’t let the performance of the New York Jets spoil my mood.
I won’t let the performance of the New York Jets spoil my mood.
I won’t let the performance of the New York Jets spoil my mood.
— Patrick Eickman (@Medieval_Nerd) December 5, 2022
The future (and futures markets) for networks
Brooklyn is in the midst of a seven-game homestand, the longest in more than a decade. After all the dramatic events between Irving and former coach Steve Nash earlier this season, this should be a time for them to string together a string of wins to show they’re in the same class as the Celtics and Bucks.
Comfortable victories over the Blazers, Magic, Wizards, and Raptors seemed to steer the Nets in that direction. But none of these opponents even scratch the surface of the league’s elite. The next true dipstick game for the Nets will come later this month during a three-game stretch. Then they play the Warriors at home on December 21, the Bucks at home on December 23, and the Cavs on the road on December 26. They won’t see the Celtics again until they travel to Boston on January 12. They currently sit fourth in the Atlantic Division, also behind the 76ers and Raptors.
Brooklyn is +2000 on Draft Kings to win the Atlantic, but also only +2500 to be No. 1 East and +1200 to win the championship. So they still get respect off the books, as evidenced by the championship odds of the league’s other 13 winning teams. Atlanta and Portland are +5000; Golden State is +700; the LA Clippers are +800 and the Sacramento Kings are +10000. If sports betting were already legal in Massachusetts (it’s coming, but state agencies are dragging back), this graph of where the money is going would look different:
Which shows how meaningless the NBA regular season at large has become in the age of the play-in tournament. As a result, only 10 of the league’s 30 teams are eliminated from the championship picture at the end of the regular season. Between that and the league’s newfound emphasis on calling out palming and travel violations, it’s not the same game. One would bet on who in the league office has the nerve to tell Commissioner Adam Silver that competitiveness has taken a back seat and something needs to be done. (Best bet: Nobody tells him. Silver is surrounded by “yes-men.”)
Remember when the NBA was FAN-tastic? Not so, unless you were one of the lucky few who put money on Anthony Davis for MVP at +25000 last Friday. His 55-point performance for the Lakers last night caused several sportsbooks to take down their MVP futures markets. This afternoon he was on the board at Fan Duel at +2400.
🔥 55 PTS (22/30 FGM)
🔥 17 REB
🔥 3 [email protected] went double nickel to follow up on his 44 point performance in his last game 🔥 pic.twitter.com/RNg9wXnigr
— NBA (@NBA) December 5, 2022
Durant’s MVP odds are up to +4200 despite the fact that he’s averaging career highs in field goal percentage (.554), free throw percentage (92.1), and true shooting percentage (.665). Irving opened the year at +10,000 but is now off the board (and just got beaten by Nike), and Bet365.com (only available to New Yorkers traveling to a neighboring state) still had no new MVP odds as of Monday afternoon released .
At BetMGM, 4.1% of tickets and 3.8% of handles went into the Nets to win the NBA championship, spokesman John Ewing said.
To put the Nets’ start in perspective, they’re 13-12 after 25 games. Last season, the eventual champions, the Golden State Warriors, were 21-4 after 25 games. But Eastern Conference winners the Celtics were 13-12 and would be 23-24 on Jan. 21 before capping the regular season with 28 wins in their last 35 games.
The Nets didn’t have Ben Simmons last night as he was rested for a third straight game with a strained calf. But the Celtics were without Smart, so one is a wash. What was striking about the webs was how they seemed to just run through the course of things. That was hard to watch to end a weekend that saw the highly competitive World Championship knockout round paired with one of the most entertaining Sunday afternoon NFL games we’ve seen in a while.
At some point the networks should be better. But enduring her fits of blah-blah is excruciating. And honestly, we’re longing for the days when the NBA got a little meaner.
ICYMI – Kevin Durant told me the #Celtics assembled the perfect team around Jayson Tatum to complement his skills, resulting in his 22-23 jump.
“He has taken a leadership role and is building his confidence every year.”
Notes from a fun night at BKN: https://t.co/Wz5hP1UX02
— Bobby Manning (@RealBobManning) December 5, 2022
The 92 points was the Nets’ worst offensive performance all season and the best defensive performance by the Celtics, who defeated Brooklyn for the eighth consecutive year. Right now, Brooklyn doesn’t look like a good championship bet.
But remember, it’s early. The Celtics were 13-12 after 25 games last season but played until the end of June. So do what you will with this information and let’s all agree that a little more sympathy for this Nets team who could at least act like they care would be very helpful.
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