Odds are no one spent time in early December looking ahead to the first game of the season between the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets. But anyone gazing a month into the future would not have foreseen a battle between two playoff contenders.
Yet two teams firmly ensconced in the Eastern Conference's top eight will take the court Monday night, when the Celtics host the Nets.
Both teams head into the game on winning streaks. The Celtics last played Friday, when they won their second straight by beating the visiting Dallas Mavericks 114-93. The Nets earned their third consecutive victory Sunday by cruising past the host Chicago Bulls 117-100.