A win for the record books ... and back on top of the Eastern Conference standings.
Behind the play of nine men, the shorthanded Nets defeated the Celtics, 109-104. With the victory, Brooklyn improves to 40-20 on the season and took sole possession of the No. 1 seed in the East over the slumping 76ers. It was an impressive win but it didn’t come easy.
The Nets entered the final 12 minutes of play nursing a 15-point lead but the Celtics came crawling back with their 3-point marksmanship. Boston forged an 11-0 run to cut the Nets lead to three with 3:31 remaining.