In recent seasons, the Brooklyn Nets have struggled when facing the Boston Celtics, with the results usually going in favor of Boston.
The Nets nearly pulled off a win in Boston on Friday night, starting strong but ultimately falling short in overtime.
Brooklyn will look to put itself in a position to secure a rare victory over the Celtics when the teams meet on Wednesday night at Barclays Center.
Boston has won 11 of the last 12 regular-season matchups against Brooklyn and has won the last five in a row. Out of those 11 wins, eight have been by double digits.
In the first meeting of this season, where the Celtics are heavy favorites to repeat as champions and the Nets are expected to be one of the league’s worst teams, Boston earned a 108-104 overtime victory on November 8. The Celtics came from behind to win, despite allowing Brooklyn to score the first 12 points of the game.
Brooklyn’s close game in Boston was part of a three-game road trip. The following night, the Nets held a 12-point lead going into the fourth quarter but ended up losing 105-100 to the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers.
On Monday, the Nets made crucial plays down the stretch to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 107-105. This win brought their record to 5-4 in the last nine games after opening the season with road losses to the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic.
Cam Thomas, Brooklyn’s leading scorer, hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 32.9 seconds left on Monday, and the Nets made two key defensive stops to seal the win. The team had seven players score in double figures and made a season-high 19 3-pointers.
Thomas led the way with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Cameron Johnson added 15 points and Dennis Schroder scored 14.
“That was big for us,” said Brooklyn forward Noah Clowney, who scored 15 points. “We had a few games against really good teams where we played down to the wire and we don’t close in the fourth. So for us to close in the fourth was a big step in the right direction.”
The Nets also made a change to their starting lineup by bringing Ben Simmons off the bench. Simmons finished with six points and 12 assists. Ziaire Williams started in place of Dorian Finney-Smith, who has a left ankle sprain, and may start again if Finney-Smith is unable to play.
On the other side, Boston will try to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time this season after giving up a 15-point lead in a 117-116 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday in the in-season tournament.
Jaylen Brown, who missed Friday’s game against Brooklyn, scored a season-high 37 points, and Derrick White added 31. Jayson Tatum was limited to 20 points on 5-of-16 shooting as the Celtics struggled in several areas against Atlanta.
Boston allowed 63 points in the second half and committed a season-high 20 turnovers. The Celtics also gave up a season-high 20 offensive rebounds.
“We expected to win,” Brown said. “Too careless, and it showed. I think the No. 1 category it showed in is our turnovers. Uncharacteristic of us to have 20 turnovers in any circumstance. I think that just displayed that we weren’t in sync like we normally are, so we’ve got to be better at that, and I’ve got to be better at that.”
