Stephen A. Smith speculates Playoff run for Brooklyn Nets: “You don’t have to worry about running into Boston”

The Brooklyn Nets have been playing incredible basketball, and NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith believes the team has a real chance to come out of the Eastern Conference.

Their toughest competition will undoubtedly be the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, who have beaten them in the last two playoffs. The Nets have a chance to avenge themselves and knock both of them out this time around.

Speaking on ESPN's "NBA Countdown," Stephen A had the following to say about the Brooklyn Nets when asked if they could make noise in the Eastern Conference:

"I don't think there's any question about that. They're definitely in position to do it because they're one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference, and if it stays that way, you don't have to worry about running into Boston in the first round, which you can deal with a lower seed and then obviously, you get your things going. You get your rhythm, and what have you... I don't think it would be a sweep if they were to meet again, not to say that Boston can't beat them because they're the deepest team in basketball.

"They play elite defense, they've got two superstars, they're well balanced, the Brogdan pickup is huge for them. But, when you look at the Brooklyn Nets with KD playing the way that he plays, every time I've seen the team bus pull up to an arena, Kyrie Irving has gotten off of it in the last several weeks. So you got that going on, and obviously, you got guys like Claxton and others have been fulfilling their roles.

"I still think they need some girth on their front line, there is no question about that, but what we're seeing from them offensively, defensively, under the coaching of a Jacque Vaughn, there is no question that the Nets are in position to make some noise in the Eastern Conference."

Check out the interview below:

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Brooklyn Nets believe they can win the championship

Brooklyn Nets v Chicago Bulls

It's not only Stephen A. Smith who thinks the Nets can win a championship, but star forward Kevin Durant also believes the same. Durant has continued to play at an elite level this season and even has a chance of being this year's MVP.

In a recent interview with ESPN, he was asked why he thought the Nets could win a championship. Durant responded with something interesting:

"'Are we going to pay more attention to detail?' Not just everybody else, all of us, me included. Is that going to be preached to us every day? I had the faith that that would happen because I voiced that throughout the summer as well.

"Even behind the scenes, like, 'Yo, this is what I like to do. This is how I like to practice.' I've been saying that for the last couple years, so I figured at that point with me going through that, they understood what I value. That's what I was hanging my hat on, the preparation side of it."

If the Brooklyn Nets can continue playing at this level, they will likely be a formidable opponent come playoff time.