History has a funny way of repeating itself.
For the second-straight year, the Brooklyn Nets are lining up with the Boston Celtics in the first round, though this time the stakes are a little higher. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum power a Celtics 2-seed that plowed through the league with the NBA’s best defensive efficiency and a .739 winning percentage in 2022 that led the Eastern Conference. Brooklyn, meanwhile, could very well be the most dangerous 7-seed the NBA has had in quite some time, boasting two of the association’s most dangerous three-level scorers in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in a Nets season that’s largely been shaped by injury and COVID-19 absences.