On Friday, the Nets got demolished in every sense of the word by the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden. The Celtics, who own the Nets’ next three first round picks, outscored Brooklyn 43-23 in the second quarter en route to a 120-95 rout that made the Nets look every bit as bad as their 2-11 record would characterize them as.
With a chance for revenge two nights later in Brooklyn, the Nets took full advantage of the unique home-and-home series by taking down Boston by a score of 111-101. Brook Lopez (23 points and 10 rebounds) and Jarrett Jack (22 points) led the way for the 3-11 Nets, who are now 1-0 against Atlantic Division opponents this season. The 7-5 Celtics were paced by Avery Bradley and Isaiah Thomas, who each scored 27 points for Brad Stevens’ team.
Sunday’s game looked like an mirror-view of Friday’s game in that the home team took a small lead in the first quarter (Brooklyn led 24-19 after 12 minutes) but broke the game open in the second frame, as the Nets outscored the Celtics 35-23 to take a 59-42 advantage at the break.
For a while in the second half, it looked as if the Nets’ third win of the season was going to be an easy and smooth one for a change, without nail-biting and frustrating failures down the stretch. Brooklyn — on a pair of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson free throws — went up 67-45 with 9:45 left in the third quarter, and were able to maintain a large lead for the next few minutes. But, the Celtics scored the last eight points of the frame to get within eight heading into the final quarter.
After Thaddeus Young hit a big jumper right after the commercial break, Boston responded by scoring eight of the next 10 points to narrow its deficit to 90-86 with nine minutes to play. Like in the games against the Kings, Warriors and Hornets, it seemed as if the Nets were going to blow another double-digit first half lead in a disappointing loss. However, Brooklyn scored six answered points to give a little cushion to the lead, thanks to aggressive play from Hollis-Jefferson and Jack.
On the defensive end, the Nets forced the Celtics to settle for contested jumpers and, more importantly, rebounded the missed shots. To be fair, Boston did get some good looks from three-point range down the stretch but when those were made, the Nets always responded with free throw makes or a basket. That resulted in Brooklyn’s first double-digit win of the season and second in a row at home.
Some other thoughts I had from the game: Obviously, the Nets wouldn’t have won this game without the huge scoring contributions they got from Brook and Jarrett Jack. Lopez used his massive size advantage over nearly every Boston frontcourt player and got looks at the basket with ease. He also defended well inside — Amir Johnson, Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk did next to nothing — but had his issues with getting out to the perimeter to guard Boston’s big men shooters. Jack was the real catalyst for most of the Brooklyn scoring in the fourth quarter, as he drove to the hoop with purpose and was able to finish strong. When he did get fouled, though, he converted (8-for-10) and limited his mistakes with just two turnovers….The rest of the starting lineup played very well too. Joe Johnson’s shot looked good, again, as he scored 17 points on 10 shots (3-for-6 from three) and was a game-high +22. Thaddeus Young, in addition to the usual solid defense and incredible hustle he brings to the table, grabbed 12 rebounds (the Nets outrebounded Boston 49-35 as a team) and added 11 points while Rondae Hollis-Jefferson compiled a career-high five steals, scoring nine points, collected seven rebounds and even had four assists. He also blocked a David Lee shot into the Nets’ bench and had a crazy putback dunk. Feels like the rookie is breaking out right in front of our eyes….I criticize Andrea Bargnani more than anyone — and he’s still a terrible defender — but he managed to score 12 points today on 6-of-9 shooting and helped stretch the floor in the second quarter. Lionel Hollins used him for three minutes too many to start the fourth with Brook on the bench but he was a positive factor tonight….Shane Larkin did his thing again, with seven points and five assists. His job leading the reserves has been woefully underrated since his speed makes defenses have to account for him, which opens up opportunities for his teammates. He also forced a few turnovers. Best signing of the summer for Billy King, by far….Bojan Bogdanovic doesn’t look great right now, as his shot has become wildly inconsistent (1-for-6 tonight) and his confidence has taken a hit. He missed a few wide, wide open corner threes in the game that the Nets really would have regretted had they lost this game….Thomas Robinson should be playing more than Andrea Bargnani, for sure. T-Rob only got 10 minutes (while Bargs got 21) but he is a better rebounder and defender than the Italian 7-footer and matches up better with the smaller Boston frontcourt. Not sure why Lionel Hollins seems so obligated to get Bargnani on the floor as much as possible….Wayne Ellington missed the game with a migraine and Markel Brown didn’t play, as he got his seventh DNP-CD in the last nine Nets games. With Ellington healthy presumably on Wednesday, does he take a seat in favor of Sergey Karasev again, who has played in the last two games since his dad criticized the Nets’ organization? It will be interesting to see.
Looking Ahead: The Nets are off for two days until Wednesday, when they take on the Thunder down in Oklahoma City. Yeah, not the easiest of games.
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