Celtics-Nets preview: Improved offense vs. top defense

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The aches and pains experienced by Marcus Morris aren’t as persistent as they were a week ago.

Al Horford is back in the fold for the Boston Celtics after missing two games due to a concussion.

Kyrie Irving suffered a facial fracture injury under his right cheek against Charlotte last week, but is in good enough shape to at least be with the Celtics for tonight’s game against Brooklyn where his availability has been listed as questionable.

Outside of Gordon Hayward’s ankle injury which is expected to keep him out the rest of the season, Boston is starting to get healthy.

And that, well, is kind of scary – for the rest of the NBA at least – when you consider they come into tonight’s game against Brooklyn having won 12 straight which has put Boston (12-2) atop the NBA standings.

Health has indeed become an issue of concern for the Nets, especially at the point guard position.

Former Harvard star Jeremy Lin was lost for the season with ruptured patella tendon in his right knee, last month.

D’Angelo Russell, acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers during the offseason, was having a breakout season before suffering a left knee injury that will reportedly keep him sidelined for multiple games.

And the next playmaker in line is Spencer Dinwiddie who has missed time with right hamstring tightness, but is projected to be the team’s starting point guard tonight.

Still, the one constant with the Nets (5-8) the last couple of seasons under Kenny Atkinson is that regardless of who they have available, Brooklyn shows up and competes.

The Celtics won all four matchups against the Nets last season, but the average margin of victory was nine points.

One of the keys to tonight’s game will center around how a much-improved Brooklyn offense competes against a Celtics defense that has been on top of its game most of this season.

The Nets average 10.7 made 3’s per game which ranks 11th in the NBA. That ability to score from deep has heavily factored into a Brooklyn team averaging 110.6 points per game which is the fourth-highest scoring team in the league.

Boston comes in giving up a league-low 94.0 points per game, with a defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 95.4 which is also tops in the NBA.

Brooklyn’s high scoring attack is fueled in large part by the Nets constantly attacking on offense which has helped ignite an offense that hums at a league-best PACE of 107.72 compared to a Boston Celtics team that’s among the league’s bottom-10 with a PACE OF 98.68 which ranks 25th in the league.

The reasons for Boston’s success are many, but the one constant that seems to come into play every night is that players have embraced whatever role they are called upon to play.

Take rookie Daniel Theis.

When he checks into games, he’s not looking to do anything but defend, rebound and catch an occasional lob or score on a point-blank put-back.

“Yeah, I like it,” he told NBC Sports Boston. “On the court I want to play defense. We have so many guys who can score so I play defense, I try to be better on defense. I like it.”

And winning.

“Yeah, I like that too … a lot,” he said, grinning.

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