No Jays? No problem: Shorthanded Celtics earn 50th win of season at Nets’ expense

The Nets fell to the Boston Celtics 104-96 on Tuesday at TD Garden.

Brooklyn lost its seventh straight away from Barclays Center and fell to 23-46 with the loss. Its last road win came on Feb. 22 against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.

Tuesday’s defeat also marked eight straight Nets losses to the Celtics. Meanwhile, Boston picked up its 50th win of the season.

Just because Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were ruled out didn’t mean the Nets could book an easy night. Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and the rest of that Boston roster are plenty to deal with in their own right.

Fully healthy aside from Cam Thomas, Brooklyn built a nine-point lead with 7:32 left in the second quarter, only for the Celtics to respond with a 7-0 run. The Nets responded with a 7-0 run of their own to push their lead back to nine.

Brooklyn ultimately went into halftime with a five-point lead after limiting the shorthanded Celtics to 36% shooting from the field (14-for-39) and 25% from 3-point range (6-for-24) through two quarters of action.

However, Boston started the third quarter 8-for-13 from the field and 4-for-6 from deep to take a 65-62 lead by the 4:43 mark. The Nets struggled mightily in the period, as they shot just 39.1% from the field (9-for-23) while allowing Boston to shoot 50% (10-for-20) and make five 3s.

White scored 13 of the Celtics’ 27 points in the third quarter, helping his team to a narrow 71-70 advantage entering the final frame. Ziaire Williams (12 points) and D’Angelo Russell (11 points) were Brooklyn’s top scorers through three quarters.

Even without Tatum and Brown on the floor, the defending NBA champions were able to pull away late behind unconscious 3-point shooting from Baylor Scheierman. A Holiday layup with 2:24 left gave Boston its largest lead of the night at 96-88.

And that’s a wrap.

Brooklyn shot just 36.4% in the fourth quarter (8-for-22) while the Celtics shot 55% (11-for-20) and made five more 3s. Scheierman, a rookie out of Creighton, scored 12 of his 20 points in the period and finished 6-for-7 from deep.

Five Nets finished in double figures, led by Russell, who contributed 18 points, five rebounds and seven assists. Brooklyn was limited to just 40.9% shooting for the game.

Porzingis led Boston with 25 points and 13 rebounds. The Celtics scored 60 points in the second half.

The Nets will return to action on Thursday against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

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