The Boston Celtics have a massive opportunity Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round NBA playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets.
Despite having an 11-point lead entering the fourth quarter in Game 1, the Celtics found themselves trailing 107-102 with about four minutes left to play.
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Boston rallied back and ultimately won in dramatic fashion on a buzzer-beating layup by Jayson Tatum.
How important is Game 2 for the Celtics? Here are a couple stats that tell the story:
- Teams that win the first two games of a best-of-seven series go on to win the series 92.4% of the time (302-25).
- Teams that win the first two games of a best-of-seven series at home go on to win the series 92.8% of the time (259-20).
- Boston is 40-1 all-time when it wins the first two games of a seven-game series, with the only loss coming in 2017-18 to Cleveland.
- The Nets are 0-7 all-time after falling behind 2-0 in a seven- game series.
A win for the Celtics in Game 2 would force the Nets to win four of the final five games of the series. The odds the Nets pulling off that feat are pretty slim, especially when you look at how poorly they defend, plus the fact Brooklyn doesn't have homecourt advantage.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics, as noted above, have been nearly unbeatable in their history when leading a playoff series 2-0. The only loss was against LeBron James and the Cavaliers in the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals.
The stakes will be high Wednesday night at the Garden. It will be fascinating to see how the Nets -- and especially Kevin Durant -- respond to losing the series opener at the buzzer.
Note: Games 2-6 of the Brooklyn Nets-Boston Celtics series will be aired on NBC Sports Boston and can also be streamed on NBCSportsBoston.com or with the MyTeams App, which you can download below.