Nets play worst game since Kevin Durant’s injury, losing by 43 points to Celtics

BOSTON – It took all of six minutes.

That was the maximum amount of time anyone had to commit to the Nets’ 139-96 loss to the Celtics Wednesday night before realizing the Nets had no chance of walking out of TD Garden with a victory.

It was by far their worst game since Kevin Durant went down with a knee injury 11 games ago. It wasn’t just that the Nets were shorthanded and, well comparatively short compared to the Celtics shooters. For the first time in this stretch without Durant, they also came up short when it came time to matching the hustle and work ethic of their opponent as they were outrebounded, 57-32.

The Nets opened the game shooting 1-for-11, but it was on defense where everything really fell apart.

The Nets, who were also missing Ben Simmons, one of their best defenders, could do nothing to slow the Celtics, who opened the game shooting 9-for-15 overall and 3-for-3 from three-point range. A little less than midway through the first quarter, the Celtics took a 21-3 lead on Jayson Tatum’s three-pointer and never looked back. The Nets trailed by 34 points, 79-45, at halftime.

It was the Nets’ 10th straight loss in Boston, a losing streak that includes their first-round sweep out of the playoffs last season.

The Nets (31-20) are 4-7 since Durant went down with an isolated sprain of his right knee in Miami on Jan. 8. Until Wednesday night, their worst loss during the stretch had been a 109-98 defeat to the Celtics in their first game without Durant.

Tatum led all scorers with 31 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Jaylen Brown added 28 points. Both players shot 7-for-12 on three-pointers.

Kyrie Irving scored 20 points and Cam Thomas added 29 for the Nets.

Kyrie Irving, to the delight of Celtics fans, missed his first three shots and finished the game with 20 points on 9-for-18 shooting. The Nets were a minus-31 in the 31 minutes Irving was on the floor.

Nic Claxton, who has been the team’s second most dependable scorer since Durant went down, could get nothing going inside. Claxton finished with nine points on 3-for-5 shooting and just six rebounds.

Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.