The Nets fell to the Boston Celtics 115-113 on Saturday within the first recreation of a back-to-back set at Barclays Middle. They’re now in sole possession of the fifth-best NBA Draft lottery odds.
Brooklyn (22-45) has misplaced 11 of 13 video games for the reason that All-Star break and three in a row since upsetting the Los Angeles Lakers at dwelling on Monday. To worsen issues, it was introduced on Saturday that Cam Thomas, the staff’s main scorer, will miss the rest of the 2024-25 season due to a left hamstring pressure suffered in Thursday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Along with Thomas, the Nets performed with out Nic Claxton (relaxation), Noah Clowney (proper ankle sprain) and Trendon Watford (left hamstring harm administration) in opposition to Boston.
Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis have been out there for the Celtics.
The Nets trailed by simply three factors after one quarter, thanks largely to Maxwell Lewis and Jalen Wilson, who scored eight and 6 factors off the bench, respectively. Tatum performed all the first quarter for Boston and scored 11 factors.
Brooklyn shot simply 8-for-23 within the second quarter whereas the Celtics went 14-for-23, with three of their makes coming from Brown and 4 from Luke Kornet. The Nets trailed by as many as 21 factors within the interval and went into halftime dealing with a 63-51 deficit.
Lewis, who was acquired from the Lakers in the identical commerce that introduced D’Angelo Russell again to Brooklyn in December, went 4-for-5 from the sector within the first half and scored 10 factors, reaching double figures for the primary time in his NBA profession. The second-year ahead totaled simply 10 factors in 51 minutes this season with the Nets and Lakers getting into the evening.
Brooklyn stored combating out of the break, beginning the third quarter on a 7-0 run to chop its deficit to 5, however a barrage of 3-pointers from Tatum, Jrue Vacation and Sam Hauser shortly pushed Boston’s lead again as much as 13.
The Nets nonetheless received the third quarter 30-23, which made it an 86-81 recreation getting into the ultimate body. Keon Johnson scored eight factors within the interval and Brooklyn restricted the Celtics to 39.1% capturing.
Three 3-pointers on three straight possessions from Lewis, Wilson and Cam Johnson reduce it to 2 with 7:59 left, however Boston pushed its lead again to 11 with 2:44 left. The Nets continued to chip away and located a 9-0 burst late to make it a 112-108 recreation with 56.9 seconds left. Then Cam Johnson’s second 3-pointer of the evening made it a one-point recreation with 4.5 seconds left.
Payton Pritchard break up a pair of free throws with 2.9 seconds left and Brooklyn had an opportunity to tie or take the lead, however Cam Johnson couldn’t get a closing shot off in time.
“There’s no moral victories here, but if that’s going to be our identity, a lot of good things are going to happen,” head coach Jordi Fernandez stated.
Lewis completed with a career-high 15 factors on 6-for-7 capturing and went 3-for-3 from deep. Cam Johnson and Keon Johnson paced Brooklyn’s starters with 23 and 21 factors, respectively.
Porzingis, in his first recreation again from an eight-game absence, led the Celtics with 24 factors and two rebounds in 32 minutes.
Whereas Brooklyn had a 22-2 edge in fastbreak factors and made 20 3-pointers, Boston shot 52.4% for the sport and dominated the paint 52-36.
The Nets will return to motion on Sunday in opposition to the Atlanta Hawks.
