Getty Ime Udoka fires back at Bruce Brown.
The Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics are on a collision course in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
In order to get there, the Nets had to dispatch the Cleveland Cavaliers, and although things got close at the end at the end, Brooklyn did eventually prevail.
It didn’t take long for the Nets to set their sights on the Celtics, and Bruce Brown took the opportunity to take a shot at Boston and explain how they’re going to score on them.
“Now they don’t have Robert Williams, so they have less of a presence in the paint, and we could attack Al Horford and (Daniel) Theis,” he said. “So them not having Robert Williams is huge.”
Nets star Kevin Durant tried to cool things down, but the damage had already been done.
“That’s the caffeine pride talking,” Durant said. “Them two dudes (Horford and Theis) can do the same stuff (as Williams). It ain’t going to be that easy. I’ll tell you that.”
Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka was asked about those comments, and he gave his response.
Celtics Respond
Ime Udoka responds to Bruce Brown’s comments about Celtics’ big men:
“They think it’s attack time because Rob is out. We’ve played quite a few games without him now and done good enough to beat good teams.”
Teams are always looking for some sort of bulletin board material ahead of a playoff series, and it looks like Brown might’ve given it to the Celtics.
When asked about the comments, Udoka seemed to dismiss the statement by saying the team still has some strong defenders.
“We still have two high-level defenders back there, big guys with Daniel (Theis) and Al (Horford),” said Udoka. “We have layers to our defense, so not it’s not like we’re getting blown by (on the perimeter) and Rob is protecting. We still have Marcus (Smart), Jaylen (Brown) and Jayson (Tatum) and everybody else in between.”
The Celtics coach even goes into a bit of the gameplay for Bruce Brown himself and talk about how he could be stopped.
“We know how he scores and how he attacks in a lot of drop situations,” he said. “Well, we can take that away by how we want to guard. And so they think it’s attack time because Rob’s out? Obviously we played quite a few games without him now and have done good enough beating some good teams.”
The Celtics are 4-3 in the games since Williams went down with an injury, and there’s a sense their center could return soon, but perhaps not as soon as the Nets series.
What’s the Outlook?
GettyThe Nets are still waiting on Ben Simmons.
The Celtics aren’t the only team dealing with injuries in this scenario as the Nets are still without a key piece.
Coming over in the James Harden trade, Ben Simmons still hasn’t played in a game with Brooklyn. Like Williams, there’s a sense Simmons could return very soon. He’s been ramping up in practice and he’s looked good in the practice videos that’ve been shown.
Despite all of that, there’s still not an official timeline for his return, so the team might be without him for the entirety of the Boston series and beyond. The Nets will presumably be without home court advantage for the entirety of the playoffs, so this is a grueling road to winning a championship.
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Celtics Coach Claps Back at Nets Starter Over Disrespectful Jab