The National Basketball Association playoffs officially tip-off this weekend with a plethora of great matchups in both conferences. However, the biggest and most anticipated matchup must be the No.2 Boston Celtics hosting the No.7 Brooklyn Nets. This 

This series has everything you could ask for in a playoff game. The superstars will be on full display starting with the Nets duo of forward Kevin Durant and guard Kyrie Irving. The Celtics have some stars of their own in forwards Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to balance out with the Nets.  

But what makes this weekend’s matchup even more interesting is the “hate” between Boston and Irving. Irving used to play for Boston and left on bad terms before joining up with Durant in Brooklyn. This has caused animosity between not only the team and Irving but fans as well. 

 “It’s like the scorned girlfriend, wants an explanation on why I left, but still hoping I text back,” Irving said about what he was expecting from fans in his return to Boston last month. 

This is also the same playoff matchup from last year with the Celtics being the No. 7 seed and Nets being the No. 2 seed. This is clearly not the same two teams that we saw just last year, the Celtics have rallied themselves into real title contenders under first-year head coach Ime Udoka.  

While the Nets have struggled with injuries and vaccination issues involving the team, they still have two of the greatest scorers in NBA history and could possibly have former All-Star guard Ben Simmons returning at some point in the series. 

The playoff intensity will be very high with both teams having title hopes, and with the first two games of the series being in Boston, you know the crowd is going to be extra loud cheering against its “ex.”