Missing 6 Players, Shorthanded Nets Fall To Celtics 112-104
BOSTON, Mass. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart each scored 21 points, and the Boston Celtics beat Brooklyn 112-104 on Monday night to snap the injury-riddled Nets' six-game winning streak.
Aron Baynes had 16 points, Marcus Morris 15, and Al Horford and Terry Rozier each had 14 for Boston, which tied a franchise record with 16 blocked shots and won for the sixth time in seven games. Horford had 11 rebounds.
The Celtics played without star guard Kyrie Irving, who was sidelined with a sore left hip.
D'Angelo Russell led the Nets with 25 points and Shabazz Napier had 20. Brooklyn had won 19 of its previous 24 games.
The Celtics took charge with an 11-0 run early in the final quarter. Brown capped the spree with a 3-pointer from the right corner, pushing Boston's lead to 102-90 with just over 7 minutes to play.
Boston used a 14-2 run midway into the second quarter en route to a 60-50 halftime edge. Brown triggered the spurt with a 3 and scored seven points.
TIP-INS:
The Nets' next win will be the 28th, matching the total for last season. Also, they can match last season's road total of 13 with their next road victory. They had won 10 of their first 12 games in January.
STICK TO THE PLAN:
As one of the NBA's surprise teams, Nets coach Kenny Atkinson has tried not to waver from his concept on how to turn things around after two losing seasons.
It's worked so far.
"What's hard when you're losing is to stick with that culture, not go off the rails and start changing things," Atkinson said. "We did change some things, but the basic foundation of what we wanted to do was established in the beginning and kept on the same way. It's great that we're starting to reap some results."
BANGED UP:
Atkinson thinks his team has learned the hard way about dealing with injuries.
"That's been part of our maturity and our confidence, not looking for the guys that are out," he said.
Brooklyn was missing six players Monday — five that get decent minutes: F Treveon Graham (sore lower back), G Spencer Dinwiddie (surgery Monday, right thumb), F Allen Crabbe (sore right knee), F Jared Dudley (strained left hamstring), F Caris LeVert (right foot injury), and G/F Dzanan Musa (left shoulder injury).
UP NEXT:
The Nets host the Bulls on Tuesday.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)