In four meetings against his old Boston team this season — regular-season and playoffs — Nets star Kyrie Irving has averaged over 30 points, and is undefeated.
Celtics point guard Kemba Walker — Irving’s replacement — is averaging 13 points and has dropped two head-to-head matchups, including Saturday’s first-round Game 1.
Keeping Walker — and Jayson Tatum — in check is a trend the Nets are hoping to continue in Tuesday’s Game 2 at Barclays Center and beyond.
“You look at the overall scope of the game, there weren’t a ton of shots where they were just missing wide-open shots. We at least made it somewhat difficult,” Blake Griffin said. “Tatum and Kemba are both explosive scorers and are very capable of hitting very tough shots, but we’ll have to live with them hitting very tough shots.”
Walker had 15 points on 5 of 16 shooting with just two assists and three turnovers. He finished a game-worst minus-21, and said he was thrown off by his early foul trouble. He was limited to just 9:57 in the first half with three fouls.
“It was tough,” Walker said. “It would’ve been tough on anybody. Being in foul trouble knocked my rhythm off, and being in and out of the game made it tough.”
Brooklyn only faced Walker once in their 3-0 regular-season sweep of Boston. In that March 11 victory, they held him to 11 points and two assists on 1 of 7 shooting from deep. Irving poured in 40 as the Nets won by 12.
The only player on Brooklyn’s injury report is Spencer Dinwiddie (ACL).
Boston’s Robert Williams III — who had nine blocks Saturday despite being a game-time decision with turf toe — was kept off his feet in Monday’s practice. But he went through the walkthrough portion, and should play Game 2.
The sizeable crowd of 14,391 at Barclays Center on Saturday left an impression on both the Nets and Celtics players. It took Brooklyn’s Jeff Green a while to get adjusted to playing in front of a packed house.
“When I got home. It was after the game. It took a while, I’m going to be real with you,” said Green. “I haven’t played in front of that many fans in over a year. It was wild. I was happy to see all the fans in there, a lot of energy they gave us.”
Boston big man Tristan Thompson’s reaction was just as strong. He can’t wait to play in front of a big TD Garden crowd for the first time.
“We just need some f—ing fans in the arena. That’s what I came here for,” said Thompson, who played before 4,789 in the play-in game.
Friday’s Game 3 in Boston will again be at 25 percent capacity, but TD Garden will be near full capacity for Game 4.
“It was fun being in the Barclays with all the fans in the arena, especially during the playoffs…If our Governor (Charlie Baker) is listening, and he’s got TNT and ESPN so he should be watching, it’s good to have fans in the arena.”