The Eastern Conference has not been overly competitive this season which means several teams are battling for the final spots in the playoff race. Teams that were counted out weeks ago are suddenly making a late-season push to get into the postseason. The Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics were teams counted out of the race a month ago, but suddenly both stand a chance to see postseason basketball as they battle on Monday night.
The Nets have found unexpected momentum late in the season and could find themselves tired for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference if they can beat the Celtics on Monday. After a five-game losing streak that pushed them 3 ½ games out of the final playoff spot, Brooklyn was counted out of the postseason race. However, they have since won four of their last five including being on the brink of a three-game win streak. Boston took a step back losing to Detroit in overtime, while the Nets pushed ahead to beat Indiana that leaves them close to a tie with the Charlotte Hornets.
Brook Lopez led the way over the Pacers getting 26 points while Bojan Bogdanovic notched 21 points on 8-8 shooting. The team managed to shoot 61.3 percent against one of the better defenses which is a huge accomplishment. Lopez appears to have found his second wind this season. The center is currently averaging 18.0 points and 10.1 rebounds while shooting 54.7 percent in his last nine games. If Lopez can keep up the big numbers, the Nets really do stand a good chance of seeing the playoffs this season.
The Celtics were sitting in seventh place in the Eastern Conference race after a nice five-game win streak. But losing their last three has seen the team take a steep fall out of contention. The Celtics need another late-season run in order to get a taste of the playoffs and must improve after shooting just 37.8 percent in their last two games.
The last time the Nets and Celtics met, Brooklyn handed Boston one of the losses in their five-game losing streak. Jarrett Jack put up 27 points including the game winner while Joe Johnson totaled 44 points in the last two games against Boston.
