Celtics allow a 28-point first-half lead to slip away, fail to bounce back, and lose to the Nets
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One month ago, this Celtics’ matchup at TD Garden against the Nets figured to be filled with juice and buzz. But then Brooklyn traded away superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, and this team was essentially left without an identity.
It entered Friday night’s game riding a four-game losing streak, facing a Celtics team that remains the favorite to win the NBA title in June. And for the first 15 minutes or so, both teams played their part. The Celtics roared to a 28-point second-quarter lead and almost appeared to be toying with the seemingly overwhelmed Nets.
But Boston’s carelessness began to swell, and so did the Nets’ confidence. By night’s end, long after the massive lead had been flipped into a substantial deficit, boos poured down from a crowd that no longer had anything to cheer about, and the Celtics were handed their most stunning and humbling loss of this season, 115-105.
With the loss, the Celtics dropped to a full game behind the idle Bucks for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Jaylen Brown had 35 points. Jayson Tatum added 22 points and 13 rebounds on his 25th birthday, but he missed all eight of his 3-point attempts and had four of Boston’s 19 turnovers.
Robert Williams left the game in the third quarter due to hamstring tightness and did not return. Malcolm Brogdon sat out due to ankle soreness.
Mikal Bridges erupted for 38 points to lead the Nets, who didn’t even have a scorching shooting night to steal this improbable win, as they shot just 31.8 percent from the 3-point line.
In addition to lacking the juice and buzz that Durant and Irving brought, the Nets were also missing their talent. This Brooklyn team has been a clunky fit since last month’s trades, and the four-game losing streak it entered the night with provided further evidence.
During the first quarter, the Celtics appeared to be toying with the Nets. Brown tried an ambitious off-the-backboard pass to Williams that was disrupted by a Brooklyn foul. Marcus Smart banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Derrick White carved through the lane for an acrobatic reverse layup.
For the most part, the Celtics got whatever shots they wanted, and Brooklyn’s offense appeared feeble. Boston shot 56.5 percent from the field in the opening quarter and roared to a 37-15 lead. The night seemed set up for the Celtics’ stars to get some well-earned rest during a blowout win.
The start of the second quarter was more of the same, with the Celtics taking a 51-23 lead, their largest, on a Brown layup with 7:23 left. But the lopsided score softened Boston’s defense, which lacked the urgency needed to finish off another NBA team. Brooklyn erupted for 32 points over the final 7:11, with the Celtics failing to offer any resistance against the Nets shooters who were scattered around the perimeter.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla seemed to sense that his team’s mind-set was not at its best even at the start, calling a rare timeout when it had a 13-5 lead and had begun to revert to casual isolation basketball. It looked then like the message was received, but it was not sustained. After one second-quarter 3-pointer during the Nets’ run, Mazzulla put his arms in the air before dropping them to his sides in frustration.
After a Celtics backcourt violation with 2.9 seconds left, Spencer Dinwiddie found Dorian Finney-Smith for an alley-oop layup at the buzzer, capping a 40-point quarter and improbably pulling the Nets within 64-55 at the break.
And for the Celtics, things deteriorated even more severely during the third quarter. Bridges ignited the 27-10 run with a 3-pointer and then ended it with a putback and a pair of free throws. When the Celtics went to the bench for a timeout near the end of that burst, the crowd that had been loving the show an hour or so earlier poured boos down instead.
Mazzulla went searching for a spark, giving Payton Pritchard and Mike Muscala second-half chances, but they made no difference. Boston trailed by 5 at the start of the fourth, but a Tatum turnover led to a Cam Johnson layup as he was fouled, and that was followed by a Bridges 8-footer that put Brooklyn in front, 100-88, with 8:09 left.