Preseason Game 4 Preview: Boston Celtics (1-4) at Brooklyn Nets (3-0)

Andray Blatche going up for a lay-up against the Celtics on Tuesday. The summer pick-up has been great for the Nets so far in the preseason coming off the bench, averaging 17 ppg and 7.3 rpg so far in three games.

Update: MarShon Brooks is likely to play tonight to make his preseason debut, according to Tim Bontemps of the New York Post.
  
When: 8:00 pm; Thursday, October 18th, 2012

Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY

TV: TNT

Radio: None

The Nets, holding an unlikely 3-0 record in the preseason as of right now, look to extend that wonderful mark in the 2nd-game of a home-and-home with the Celtics tonight at the Prudential Barclays Center in Newark Brooklyn. The starters, after a one game respite, will be back in the starting lineup facing off against a Celtics starting-five that is a veteran, but scary, bunch of players. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett may be 35 and 36 years old respectively, but that isn't even close to meaning that they won't continue to kill the Nets this year and they seemingly do every time these two teams face each other on the court.

Last game, the Nets' back-ups managed to do a pretty decent job of guarding the talented Celtics starters, with the only major exception being Paul Pierce, who scored 29 points on the game with 20 of those coming in the 1st half. The defense did a solid job on Tuesday of getting hands in the face of Boston shooters, much better than they did on Monday against the Wizards. Holding a contending team like the Celtics to under 100 points when none of your five starters enter the game is a very hard thing to do, regardless of whether the game is played in the preseason or in the regular season.

Recapping the Nets' Offseason, A Very Big One Indeed

Brooklyn's brand new backcourt. Watch out Eastern Conference, this duo means business.

So, I'm back. I returned from sleepaway camp two days ago and I'm slowly catching up and coming to grips with everything that has happened regarding the Nets' roster over the past eight or so weeks. Let's review each Nets' transaction (or non-transaction, you'll see what I mean) going back to Draft Night, which fell on June 27th this year:

Portland Trailblazers trade the 41st overall pick in 2012 Draft (G Tyshawn Taylor) to Nets for cash considerations
Entering this year's draft, the Nets only had one pick, the 57th overall pick in the 2nd-round. I guess Billy King liked Taylor, a point guard from the University of Kansas, so much that he didn't want to wait for him at 57 and instead used some of Mikhail Prokhorov's extra cash to nab Taylor with pick 41. Tyshawn, a Hoboken, NJ native, figures to be a part-time player for this year's Nets team who will share back-up PG duties with recent signee C.J. Watson.

Philadelphia 76ers trade the 54th overall pick in 2012 Draft (F Tornike Shengalia) to Nets for cash considerations
I don't follow European/foreign basketball very much so I have no first-hand experience in watching any of the Nets foreign acquisitions play but according to some scouting reports, Shengalia is a physical rebounding/defense type who won't be an offensive superstar but has some decent moves down in the post. His 6'9" frame is better suited for the 4 than the 3 as one of his major weaknesses is lack of a reliable jumper. My best guess is that he's a project who figures to not make much of an effect in the meantime.