Sunken rivalry: Celtic cream the Nets for a 9th time in a row

Watching Boston beat Brooklyn is starting to become a habit, to what once was an always thrilling to see NBA rivalry. Last night Celtics were victorious against their eastern opponents for a ninth time in a row. 

There is no doubt that Boston is the best team in the league so far, but come to think of it, Nets have also excelled this season as they rank second in the East, trailing only behind the Celtics. As a matter of fact, the Nets had won 18 out of their last 20 games! Everything was set up last night for the biggest game of the week, and it seemed this Brooklyn squad would finally be able to break the recent curse against their green rivals.

But then again, Jayson Tatum’s side was too strong for the Nets who have been competing this week without their star Kevin Durant. Although the Celtic’s were also missing Jaylen Brown due to injury, Marcus Smart came back just in time to provide his team with his best version. The green point guard scored 16 points, gave 10 assists and won 6 rebounds last night.

That's the ball game 😎 pic.twitter.com/rTVuzWTA2B

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 13, 2023

Probably the period when this rivalry was at its’ most exciting time, was back in the early 2000s due to their close locations and rising stars. Back then, the Celtics were led by Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker, as for the Nets (back when they were in New Jersey) had Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin as their main stars. By the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals, lots of tension was built after many trash talked all throughout the series, as the Nets won 4-2.

Let’s review the past ten matches between these two, including Celtic’s incredible 9-winning streak and the last time the Nets finally won:

January 12th, 2003: 109-98 (Celtics win)
December 4th, 2022: 103-92 (Celtics win)

1st Round of 2021/22 Playoffs

Game 1 – April 14th, 2022: 115-114 (Celtics win)
Game 2 – April 20th, 2022: 107-114 (Celtics win)
Game 3 – April 23rd, 2022: 109-103 (Celtics win)
Game 4 – April 25th, 2022: 116-112 (Celtics win)

March 6th, 2022: 126-120 (Celtics win)
February 24th, 2022: 129-106 (Celtics win)
February 8th, 2022: 126-91 (Celtics win)
November 24th, 2021: 104-123 (Nets win)

So, last time Brooklyn defeated their rivals was back in late 2021, for their first encounter of last season. If you keep going, you’ll be reminded why this was considered a great rivalry. The three times they clashed during the 2020/21 pandemic season, the Nets won all three of them.

April 23rd, 2021: 104-109 (Nets win)
March 11th, 2021: 109-121 (Nets win)
December 25th, 2020: 95-123 (Nets win)

Next time both teams will face each other will be on February 1st in the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Will this be the opportunity for Brooklyn to clean their faces and prove this is actually a rivalry worth yapping about?