The Brooklyn Nets returned from their three-game road trip on Wednesday night, facing the Boston Celtics.
The Nets had lost to Boston on said road trip, but took the defending champs to overtime, a much better showing than the last time they took the Amtrak up to Beantown, a 50-point loss that got Jacque Vaughn dismissed.
But on Wednesday night at the Barclays Center, Boston was adding a wing-scorer while the Nets were losing a wing-stopper. Jaylen Brown, who missed the last matchup with a hip ailment, was available, while hosts were missing Dorian Finney-Smith. (Jordi Fernández’s team was also down Ben Simmons; more on that below.