BROOKLYN vs BOSTON
When: 12/25/2020 5:00 PM
Where:

TV: 5:00 PM
LINE: 3
PREDICTION: BOSTON , BROOKLYN

Oddsmakers currently have the BOSTON listed as 3 point favorites versus the BROOKLYN, while the game’s total is sitting at 230.

The pairing of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant created big expectations for the Brooklyn Nets, and the duo did not disappoint in their debut.

The pairing also created a desire by the NBA’s television partners to give the Nets as many nationally televised games as possible, and that includes the league’s five-game Christmas Day showcase on Friday when Brooklyn visits the Boston Celtics.

Due to injuries, the Nets and their fans waited 18 months to see Durant and Irving together. Durant was recovering from rupturing his Achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals with Golden State, while Irving was limited to 20 games in 2019-20 due to shoulder injuries in a season in which he averaged 27.4 points.

On Tuesday, the Nets rolled to a 125-99 win against the Warriors in the NBA’s season opener. Irving scored 26 and Durant had 22 against his old team. They combined for 17-of-32 shooting in a game Brooklyn led by as many as 38.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Irving said. “And I’m grateful that we could let our games do the talking.”

Both players sat out the fourth quarter in Steve Nash’s successful coaching debut due to the lopsided margin.

“He looks like Kevin, he plays like Kevin, but I don’t want to start making expectations of him until he gets going and gets some games and some rhythm under his belt,” Nash said.

The pairing of the superstars has resulted in Brooklyn’s first Christmas Day game since a 95-78 home loss to the Chicago Bulls in 2013. That was the franchise’s second season in Brooklyn when it acquired Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in a trade from Boston that landed the Celtics four first-round picks.

Those acquisitions resulted in a 44-win season and also forced a rebuild by 2016. The rebuild went quicker than anticipated, resulting in a playoff berth by 2018-19 and the signings of Irving and Durant when free agency started in July 2019.

The Celtics are appearing in a Christmas Day game for the 34th time and for the fourth straight year.

Besides the return of Irving, who starred for the Celtics from 2017-19, the focus in Boston is on the emergence of forward Jayson Tatum.

Tatum averaged a career-high 23.4 points last season and signed a max extension last month. He is among the No. 1 options for the Celtics while they wait for Kemba Walker to return from a knee injury sometime next month.

In the season opener on Wednesday, Tatum led the Celtics to a dramatic 122-121 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. He scored 30 points and banked in the go-ahead 3-pointer in the final seconds.

“Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to be in that position,” Tatum said. “If it goes down or not, that’s what I work so hard for. You just want to be in that moment.”

Jaylen Brown scored 33 points for the Celtics, who got the dramatic win after entering the fourth quarter with a 17-point lead. The Celtics also got solid showings from newcomers Jeff Teague (19 points) and Tristan Thompson (12 points, eight rebounds).

“Those are the type of shots that we trust JT with, that he looks forward to,” Brown said. “I don’t know if he called glass, but I’ll take it.”

The teams split four meetings last season. Caris LeVert scored a career-high 51 points in Brooklyn’s 129-120 overtime win at Boston on March 3 and the Celtics shot 56.8 percent in a 149-115 romp in the Orlando bubble on Aug. 5.

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BROOKLYN vs UTAH
When: 9:00 PM  ET, Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah

TV: 9 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah)
LINE: -7
PREDICTION: Jazz 111, Nets 105

Oddsmakers currently have the UTAH listed as -7 point favorites versus the BROOKLYN, while the game’s total is sitting at 220.

The Utah Jazz look to record their fourth consecutive victory when they host the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday. The Jazz are averaging 110.3 points during the three wins and notched a season-best point total in Monday’s 122-108 road victory over the Golden State Warriors.

Utah recorded a season-high 30 assists and was 16-of-35 from 3-point range against the Warriors with the backcourt duo of Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell each knocking down five from behind the arc. “I still think we have a lot of room to improve but I think tonight was a small example of what we can do when guys are looking for each other and making the game easier for each other,” Conley told reporters afterward. The Nets are 1-1 on a five-game road trip and will be looking to rebound from being whipped 138-112 by the Phoenix Suns on Sunday. “The biggest issue was the Suns. They dominated us in every fashion,” Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson said afterward. “They were unbelievable, we were obviously sub-par and not up to our standards and when you have that kind of disparity, you can lose by 30 on the road. These games happen in the NBA. … We’ll work on it and see if we can bounce back.”

TV: 9 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah)

ABOUT THE NETS (4-5): Star point guard Kyrie Irving failed to reach the 20-point mark for the first time this season when he scored 15 points against the Suns and never visited the free-throw line while being outclassed by Phoenix point guard Ricky Rubio (22 points, 12 assists, zero turnovers). “I don’t think I shot one free throw, which is a tell-tale sign of just how aggressive I am not in the game,” Irving said afterward. “A lot of the accountability falls on me and really the game plan of guarding Ricky and not being in the right spots.” Guard Spencer Dinwiddie is averaging 26 points on the road trip and had 18 against Phoenix following a season-high 34 against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.

ABOUT THE JAZZ (7-3): The trio of center Rudy Gobert (a season-best 25 points on 11-of-12 shooting), Mitchell (23) and Conley (22) combined for 70 points as Utah controlled play against the Warriors. “I think we were playing with a better flow and better rhythm,” Conley said. “We were getting back up and down the floor a little easier than we were the past few games. Guys got some easier looks, which I think made us vitally more comfortable.” Gobert, who had 14 rebounds, is averaging 15.4 boards over the past five games with the range being from 14 to 17.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Nets have lost in each of their last three visits to Salt Lake City.

2. Utah SF Bojan Bogdanovic tallied 12 points against Golden State after averaging 26.5 over the previous two games.

3. Brooklyn C DeAndre Jordan (ankle) returned from a one-game absence to produce 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting to go with 12 rebounds against Phoenix.

PREDICTION: Jazz 111, Nets 105

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TORONTO RAPTORS vs BROOKLYN NETS
When: 7:30 PM  ET, Friday, December 7, 2018
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York

TV: 7:35 PM
LINE: 9.5
PREDICTION: BROOKLYN , TORONTO

Oddsmakers currently have the BROOKLYN listed as 9.5 point favorites versus the TORONTO, while the game’s total is sitting at 222.

The Toronto Raptors will try to extend a pair of streaks when they visit the sliding Brooklyn Nets on Friday. The Raptors have won 12 straight meetings between the Atlantic Division foes since the Nets last claimed a victory in April 2015, and Brooklyn enters this one suffering through an eight-game losing streak overall.

Toronto seems primed to stretch those runs a bit further behind Kawhi Leonard, who scored 36 points — one shy of his season high — in a 113-102 win over Philadelphia at home Wednesday night. “I try to perform every night,” Leonard told reporters after making 5-of-6 3-pointers and bumping his scoring average to 26.1. “If you try to turn it on against the good teams, it’s really hard to do that. You’ve got to do it on a nightly basis.” Brooklyn’s latest loss may have been its most difficult, as it blew a 23-point lead in a 114-112 loss to Oklahoma City. “What’s the definition of insanity? The same, over and over, and not changing, not adjusting,” forward Jared Dudley told reporters of the team’s eighth consecutive home defeat.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet One (Toronto), YES (Brooklyn)

ABOUT THE RAPTORS (21-5): Leonard’s big game allowed Toronto to survive another off-night for star guard Kyle Lowry, who is 3-for-15 from the floor in two games since sitting out one contest due to a back issue. Center Jonas Valanciunas also stepped up with a season-high 26 points to go along with eight rebounds in only 18 minutes off the bench. “Our bench did an unbelievable job,” Lowry told reporters. “Tonight was one of those games where they just had it clicking.”

ABOUT THE NETS (8-18): Three of Brooklyn’s eight straight losses have come by exactly two points, including the last two, and seven of them were by 10 points or fewer, but that’s no solace for a squad that has sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic. “At the end, I don’t know if it’s a switch or not a switch,” Dudley added when discussing the play that led to Oklahoma City’s go-ahead 3-pointer in the closing seconds. “Paul George hits a wide-open 3, (Alec) Burks scores around a back dunk (in Monday’s 99-97 loss to Cleveland). It’s like these game winners are the easiest game winners in NBA history. So, we got to figure out a way.” A bright spot in the loss to the Thunder was a 7-for-13 effort from behind the arc by guard Allen Crabbe, who made 30.6 percent of his 3s in October, 35.2 percent in November and 47.8 percent in three December games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Lowry had a triple-double with 25 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in the last meeting, a 116-112 win at home on March 23.

2. Nets SF Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is 1-for-9 from the floor with six total points over his last two games after scoring at least 11 in his previous four outings.

3. Leonard is averaging 33.5 points on 54.5 percent shooting over a four-game hot stretch.

PREDICTION: Raptors 114, Nets 107

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BROOKLYN NETS vs WASHINGTON WIZARDS
When: 7:00 PM  ET, Friday, November 16, 2018
Where: Capital One Arena, Washington, District of Columbia

TV: 7:05 PM
LINE: -7
PREDICTION: WASHINGTON , BROOKLYN

Oddsmakers currently have the WASHINGTON listed as -7 point favorites versus the BROOKLYN, while the game’s total is sitting at 222.5.

The league’s most disappointing team over the first couple of weeks, the Washington Wizards suddenly are moving in the right direction. They will try to extend their first winning streak of the season to four games when they continue a five-game homestand against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.

After a 2-9 start, Washington topped Miami on the road last weekend before opening the homestand with victories over Orlando and Cleveland, averaging 117.3 points during the streak. “We still have a lot of work to do — we still have to get better,” guard Bradley Beal told reporters after Wednesday’s 119-95 win over the Cavaliers. “We’re still not content with where we are. We put three (wins) together, but we still have a couple more at home that we have to take care of.” The Wizards have been able to take advantage of a succession of sub-.500 opponents and the Nets fit the bill, having lost three straight with a 120-107 home loss to the Heat on Wednesday. In its first game since losing guard Caris LeVert to a foot injury, Brooklyn shot 40.2 percent from the floor while allowing Miami to hit on 54.1 percent of its shots.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), NBCS Washington

ABOUT THE NETS (6-9): Although Brooklyn was pleased to learn that LeVert may be able to return this season from a dislocated right foot, it knows there will be a long adjustment period without its leading scorer. “Just the significance of how the injury happened, him being the heart and soul of the team up until this point, our go-to scorer and facilitator,” forward Joe Harris told reporters. “Then obviously just the energy and enthusiasm and leadership that he brings, that’s a void we miss a lot and it is going to be an adjustment for us.” Spencer Dinwiddie was the high scorer Wednesday with 18 points off the bench while Allen Crabbe started in place of LeVert and was held to six points before fouling out in 26 minutes.

ABOUT THE WIZARDS (5-9): Washington wasted little time establishing itself against the struggling Cavaliers by scoring 41 points in the first quarter and racing to a 73-52 halftime lead. “We did a good job of coming out there very aggressive on the defensive end,” center Dwight Howard told the media. “We got a lot of stops early which allowed us to get a pretty good lead.” Beal had a team-high 20 points while fellow guard John Wall collected nine assists and a pair of steals to make up for a season-low eight points.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Howard is averaging 12.6 points on 61.1 percent shooting in seven games since returning from a sore backside.

2. Nets PG D’Angelo Russell is shooting 44.4 percent from 3-point range on the road, compared to 28.1 percent at home.

3. Brooklyn took the first two meetings at home last season before falling in overtime at Washington on Jan. 13.

PREDICTION: Wizards 114, Nets 106

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BROOKLYN NETS vs GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
When: 8:30 PM  ET, Saturday, November 10, 2018
Where: Oracle Arena, Oakland, California

TV: 8:35 PM
LINE: -7
PREDICTION: GOLDEN STATE , BROOKLYN

Oddsmakers currently have the GOLDEN STATE listed as -7 point favorites versus the BROOKLYN, while the game’s total is sitting at 225.5.

The Golden State Warriors will be without star point guard Stephen Curry when they host the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday. Curry was diagnosed with a mild to moderate groin strain during an MRI exam Friday and could miss multiple contests.

Curry was injured during the third quarter of Thursday’s 134-111 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks and coach Steve Kerr was pleased with what the doctors determined. “The MRI looked good in terms of not being too serious,” Kerr told reporters. “It’s kind of something we’re going to evaluate over the next few days. He’s still sore, and it’s a strained groin, basically, is the injury. But the MRI was encouraging, so it will be kind of a day-to-day thing.” Quinn Cook will start in Curry’s place as the Warriors try to bounce back from a thorough beating after winning their previous eight contests. Brooklyn is playing well with three straight wins and posted a 112-110 road victory over the Denver Nuggets on Friday when shooting guard Caris LeVert hit a floater with 0.3 seconds left.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), NBCS Bay Area (Golden State)

ABOUT THE NETS (6-6): LeVert was been one of the surprise breakout performers in the NBA and he responded like a go-to player by driving into the lane to hit the decisive shot against Denver. “I just wanted to get the last shot and get the shot I wanted,” LeVert said in a postgame television interview. “I pretty much knew it was going in. That’s three (wins) in a row and two of those are road victories.” LeVert, who scored 17 points Friday, has tallied 20 or more on seven occasions this season.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS (10-2): Curry isn’t the only injured player as power forward Draymond Green (foot) will miss his second straight game and point guard Shaun Livingston (foot) will sit out his seventh in a row. “Draymond is really making improvement, and Shaun’s going to play some three-on-three,” Kerr told reporters. “He needs some time on the court. He’s feeling a lot better, but he’s hardly done anything basketball-wise. We need to get him some live action before we put him into an NBA game.” Second-year pro Jordan Bell started in place of Green on Thursday and had four points and five rebounds in 22 minutes.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Warriors have won the past seven meetings and 17 of the last 22.

2. Brooklyn SF DeMarre Carroll (ankle) made his season debut against Denver and had nine points in 14 minutes off the bench.

3. Golden State SG Klay Thompson has topped 20 points in four of the past five games and is averaging 28.6 points during the stretch.

PREDICTION: Warriors 127, Nets 105

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BROOKLYN NETS vs PHOENIX SUNS
When: 9:00 PM  ET, Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Where: Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, Arizona

TV: 9:05 PM
LINE:
PREDICTION: PHOENIX , BROOKLYN

Oddsmakers currently have the PHOENIX listed as 1.5 point favorites versus the BROOKLYN, while the game’s total is sitting at 219.5.

The Phoenix Suns missed Devin Booker when he wasn’t in the lineup and look to post a second straight win when they host the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday. Booker drained the decisive shot in Sunday’s 102-100 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies to end Phoenix’s seven-game slide.

The star shooting guard missed three games with a hamstring injury before returning for Friday’s loss against the Toronto Raptors and looked on his game Sunday when he scored 25 points and hit the game-winning shot with 1.7 seconds remaining. “It’s new life around here,” Booker told reporters. “New energy. You see a lot of smiles. Hopefully, we like this feeling and want to come out and play that much harder versus Brooklyn.” The Nets are just 1-4 on the road as they begin a stretch in which they play four straight and seven of nine in enemy venues. Brooklyn is coming off a strong performance in which it rolled to a 122-97 triumph over the Philadelphia 76ers.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), FS Arizona (Phoenix)

ABOUT THE NETS (4-6): Forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson enjoyed his top offensive performance of the season against Philadelphia by scoring 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Hollis-Jefferson is just finding his stride after missing all of the preseason due to an adductor strain and anything he provides offensively is a bonus as he typically makes a big impact on the defensive end. “Whatever he adds on the offensive end or wherever else, I think that’s just the cherry on top,” point guard D’Angelo Russell told reporters. “But he’s always going to be that work hard, scrappy guy, make the play, but he has offensive skills as well. I think he’s falling into his rhythm. He needed that game just to get that confidence right.”

ABOUT THE SUNS (2-7): Rookie forward Mikal Bridges contributed 14 points in the win over Memphis, two games after scoring a season-high 16 against the San Antonio Spurs. Bridges has played more than 20 minutes in four of the past five games and is carving himself a role while impressing his teammates. “I love being on the floor with him,” Booker told reporters. “He does everything it takes to win. He spaces the floor, he defends, he’s long and lanky, he has really good instincts that not a lot of people have and he’s well-coached at Villanova. They know how to win.”

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Nets have won five of the past six meetings.

2. Brooklyn SG Caris LeVert has scored 20 or more points in back-to-back games and six times overall this season.

3. Phoenix waived C Tyson Chandler after agreeing to a buyout of his contract.

PREDICTION: Suns 114, Nets 111

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PHILADELPHIA 76ERS vs BROOKLYN NETS
When: 6:00 PM  ET, Sunday, November 4, 2018
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York

TV: 6:05 PM
LINE: 4
PREDICTION: BROOKLYN , PHILADELPHIA

Oddsmakers currently have the BROOKLYN listed as 4 point favorites versus the PHILADELPHIA, while the game’s total is sitting at 223.

The Philadelphia 76ers just completed another successful homestand, but the road continues to flummox the young squad. The 76ers will try to earn their first road win and stretch their overall winning streak to three straight when they visit the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.

Philadelphia is 0-4 on the road but improved to 6-0 at home with a 109-99 triumph over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday afternoon. Star center Joel Embiid turned in another stellar performance with 39 points and 17 rebounds and averaged 40 points and 15 boards on the two-game homestand. The Nets held a 14-point lead in the first half against the Houston Rockets at home on Friday but could not hold the advantage and ended up suffering a 119-111 loss – their fourth in the last five games. Brooklyn allowed at least 115 points in each of those five contests and was outscored 63-50 by the Rockets in the second half on Friday.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, YES (Brooklyn)

ABOUT THE 76ERS (6-4): Embiid is playing without restrictions this season and competing on both ends of back-to-back games after being watched carefully in his first two seasons. The 24-year-old logged at least 30 minutes in each of the team’s first 10 games and muscled his way to 39 points on Sunday by getting to the line and knocking down 18-of-23 free throws. The 76ers are letting Embiid share the court at times with fellow big man Mike Muscala, who scored in double figures for the third time in the last four games with 14 points in 26 minutes off the bench on Sunday.

ABOUT THE NETS (3-6): Brooklyn finished Friday’s game with starting point guard D’Angelo Russell on the bench the entire fourth quarter, and the team has been going away from the 22-year-old during crunch time. “We lost,” Russell told reporters. “That’s my main frustration. In general, we all felt that loss. It looked like it was a game we could have squeezed out, but unfortunately, we didn’t. … I’ll look at the game film to see what I can do early in the game to dictate if I’m playing at the end. But we’ve got a lot of guys who are capable of doing a lot of things. Whatever (coach) Kenny (Atkinson) says goes.” Russell is a combined 8-of-29 from the floor, including 1-of-11 from 3-point range, over the last two games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. 76ers SF Wilson Chandler (hamstring) made his season debut on Saturday and went scoreless in 10 minutes off the bench.

2. Brooklyn SG Caris LeVert scored a season-high 29 points on Friday and leads the team at an average of 20 points.

3. Philadelphia took the last three of the four-game series in 2017-18.

PREDICTION: 76ers 119, Nets 103

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HOUSTON ROCKETS vs BROOKLYN NETS
When: 7:30 PM  ET, Friday, November 2, 2018
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York

TV: 7:35 PM
LINE: 2.5
PREDICTION: BROOKLYN , HOUSTON

Oddsmakers currently have the BROOKLYN listed as 2.5 point favorites versus the HOUSTON, while the game’s total is sitting at 215.5.

The Houston Rockets lost their swagger, according to coach Mike D’Antoni, and are trying to recapture the magic that led them to the best record in the NBA last season. The Rockets will try to snap a four-game slide when they open a five-game road trip with a visit to the Brooklyn Nets on Friday.

Houston is nearly a third of the way to last season’s loss total and dropped its last three games by double figures, capped by Tuesday’s 104-85 home loss to the Portland Trail Blazers that marked a season low in points scored. “Right now, we’re playing like crap,” D’Antoni told reporters. “We’re just not playing well. You know, I don’t have a whole lot of answers for you now. We’ll look, and we’ll fight it.” The Nets broke out of a three-game losing streak by outlasting the Detroit Pistons 120-119 in overtime on Wednesday and are feeling good about themselves. “That was the thing that made this win really big for us — the losing streak,” Brooklyn guard Spencer Dinwiddie told reporters. “We’re trying to be a good team and change the tide of Nets teams of the past. You’ve got to learn how to get out of a rut quickly.”

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston), YES (Brooklyn)

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (1-5): Houston’s disjointed start can to attributed to a roster working in new pieces like former All-Star Carmelo Anthony and a two-game suspension that sidelined Chris Paul and a hamstring injury that currently has star guard James Harden locked to the bench. Anthony managed eight points on 2-of-12 shooting on Tuesday to mark his fourth single-digit scoring effort in six games but is not ready to hit the panic button. “When it goes bad, it goes bad,” Anthony told reporters. “Right now, I think we’ve just got to keep biting at it, keep fighting, keep playing. I’m big on staying the course and figuring it out. Whatever we have to figure out, I’m sure we will do it.”

ABOUT THE NETS (3-5): Dinwiddie comes off the bench, but he was on the floor in the key moments on Wednesday and ended up capping a 25-point night with a go-ahead 3-pointer in the final seconds of overtime. “I’ve got a corner 3,” Dinwiddie told reporters. “I hit him with the right step-back. He’s going to have a late contest. All I’ve got to do is shoot. It’s just me and the rim. If I get my follow-through right, my arc right, he ain’t going to do nothing about it.” Dinwiddie went 8-of-15 from the floor in 32 minutes while starting point guard D’Angelo Russell struggled to six points on 3-of-15 shooting in 25 minutes.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Harden sat out the last two games and is doubtful for Friday.

2. Nets SF Joe Harris is shooting 54.8 percent from 3-point range after going 4-of-7 on Wednesday.

3. Harden averaged 36.5 points in a pair of double-digit wins over Brooklyn last season.

PREDICTION: Rockets 113, Nets 106

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DETROIT PISTONS vs BROOKLYN NETS
When: 7:30 PM  ET, Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York

TV: 7:35 PM
LINE: -2.5
PREDICTION: BROOKLYN , DETROIT

Oddsmakers currently have the BROOKLYN listed as -2.5 point favorites versus the DETROIT, while the game’s total is sitting at 214.

Andre Drummond terrorized the Brooklyn Nets in the season opener and the two-time All-Star center looks for another stellar outing when the Detroit Pistons visit New York on Wednesday. Drummond had 24 points and 20 rebounds when Detroit began the season with a 103-100 home triumph over the Nets on Oct. 17.

The win over Brooklyn began a 4-0 start for the Pistons but they have now dropped back-to-back games to the Boston Celtics — the first by 20 points and followed by Tuesday’s 108-105 setback. Detroit forward Blake Griffin continued his strong start with 24 points and 15 rebounds Tuesday and has recorded four double-doubles in six games. The Nets have dropped three consecutive games after falling 115-96 to the New York Knicks on Monday with the 19-point margin representing the team’s second-largest loss of the season. The contest against Detroit is the opener of a three-game homestand before Brooklyn plays seven of its next nine on the road.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Detroit, YES (Brooklyn)

ABOUT THE PISTONS (4-2): Griffin committed five turnovers Tuesday, including one on an inbound pass with 10.5 seconds left and Detroit trailing by three points. Point guard Reggie Jackson struggled with eight points on 2-of-9 shooting and wasn’t on the floor down the stretch, a situation magnified by the team’s sloppy 17-turnover performance. “There was no reason,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey told reporters in regards to Jackson being on the bench. “I thought the group we had in there was playing pretty well.”

ABOUT THE NETS (2-5): Coach Kenny Atkinson saw his team get outrebounded 53-32 by the Knicks on Monday and said he is considering moving power forward Ed Davis into the starting lineup in place of wing Jared Dudley. Brooklyn is also missing the toughness rookie forward Rodions Kurucs (ankle) displayed while averaging 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in an average of 14.3 minutes over the first three games before being hurt. “He worked out (Tuesday), so made progress,” Atkinson told reporters of the Latvia native. “Listen, in the short stint we had him, he showed some sign that he’s an NBA player and he can help us. So hoping to get him back soon.”

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Pistons have won five of the past six meetings.

2. Brooklyn SG Caris LeVert has four 20-point outings, including 27 in the opening-night loss against the Pistons.

3. Detroit SG Luke Kennard (shoulder) is sidelined for another 3-to-4 weeks but the club picked up his contract option for the 2019-20 season Tuesday.

PREDICTION: Pistons 110, Nets 102

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BROOKLYN NETS vs INDIANA PACERS
When: 7:00 PM  ET, Saturday, October 20, 2018
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana

TV: 7:05 PM
LINE: -9
PREDICTION: INDIANA , BROOKLYN

Oddsmakers currently have the INDIANA listed as -9 point favorites versus the BROOKLYN, while the game’s total is sitting at 211.

Caris LeVert is looking like a breakout candidate for the Brooklyn Nets, who aim for their second straight win when they begin a three-game road trip at the Indiana Pacers on Saturday. A third-year pro out of Michigan, LeVert had some nice moments through his first two seasons but he’s entered 2018-19 in very impressive fashion.

After posting 27 points in a season-opening loss at Detroit on Wednesday, the 24-year-old capped a career-high 28-point effort with the decisive basket with one second left in a 107-105 win over the New York Knicks on Friday. “[Coach Kenny Atkinson] had a lot of confidence to go back to me tonight and I just wanted to come through,” LeVert told reporters after the win. The Pacers rolled to a 28-point win at home against Memphis to begin the season before falling 118-101 at Milwaukee on Friday. Doug McDermott hit 4-of-6 3-pointers but the rest of the Indiana roster was a combined 2-for-12 from the arc in the setback.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), FS Indiana

ABOUT THE NETS (1-1): LeVert, who shot 43.5 percent from the floor last season, is 18-for-31 through the first two games. Big man Jarrett Allen came on strong in the second half of 2017-18 and has opened this season with back-to-back double-doubles, including 15 points and 17 rebounds — to go along with his second straight game with four blocked shots — on Friday. Forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was out for the opener with a groin injury and missed the game against the Knicks after welcoming a baby boy.

ABOUT THE PACERS (1-1): Coach Nate McMillan was not pleased with his team’s inability to defend the 3-point line, as Milwaukee was 17-of-47 from beyond the arc, and he found his players too sloppy on the other end. “We didn’t show up defensively and offensively just way too many turnovers,” he told reporters. “You’re not going to win games with 17, 18 turnovers. It’s not preseason. Its over. Preseason’s over. Gotta be sharper with the ball.” Victor Oladipo, who averaged 27.8 points in four games against Brooklyn last season, scored a team-high 25 points in Friday’s loss.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Pacers PF Damantas Sabonis has 28 rebounds through the first two games.

2. Nets F Treveon Graham left Friday’s win with a hamstring strain and is day-to-day.

3. Indiana has won seven straight meetings and six in a row at home.

PREDICTION: Pacers 105, Nets 99

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