The short-handed Nets held off the short-handed Celtics 109-104 on Friday, dropping the Celtics a full game below the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference standings.
Here’s what happened.
The big picture
Missing Jaylen Brown, Kemba Walker, and Rob Williams and on the second night of a back-to-back, the Celtics struggled for a number of reasons. After the Nets rallied from Jayson Tatum’s hot start and threatened to break the game open on multiple occasions, the Celtics trimmed the lead back down and stayed within reach. They couldn’t, however, overcome a six-point deficit in the final two minutes.