Deron Williams stars as Brooklyn Nets sneak past Rondo-less Boston Celtics 102-97: NBA Recap
Deron Williams scored 24 points and dished out 8 assists, Brook Lopez added 24 points as the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Boston Celtics 102-97 here at the Barclays Center on Thursday night.
Joe Johnson chipped in with 19 points and 8 rebounds and Kris Humphries scored a double-double with 13 rebounds and 10 points as the Nets won the game after a strong finish in the final quarter.
The game was pretty close throughout and Boston were leading by 5 points at the end of the third quarter but the Nets brought their A-Game in the final period and sneaked out a win.
Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 22 points; Leandro Barbosa added 17 points while Kevin Garnett chipped in with 14 points on the night. They clearly missed the services of their play maker Rajon Rondo, who is out with a sprained
ankle. In his absence, the entire Celtics team only managed 17 assists on the night.
Celtics shot 53.8 percent from the three point range while the Nets shot only 36.4 percent from downtown. The Celtics however did not make use of their hot shooting as they made only 13 attempts from the three point range in the
entire game.
Brooklyn started the proceedings strongly. A Deron Williams shot from downtown had them up 8-2. Later on, a Joe Johnson jumper extended their advantage to 19-8 before Jason Terry nailed a three pointer and Chris Wilcox tipped one
in as the Boston cut the deficit down to 13-19. The Nets scored the next four points to go up 23-13 before a late recovery by the Celtics left them trailing by just 26-31 at the end of the period.
A Garnett layup in the early goings of the second period left the Celtics trailing by 32-34 as they inched closer, and it was Garnett again with a jumper that tied the score at 38 around the halfway mark. The Nets responded with
a quick 7-0 burst to go up 45-38. A three point play by Johnson in the closing moments of the period had the Nets leading 59-50 by halftime.
Brooklyn were comfortably placed at 69-57 early in the third period before a 12-0 run by the Celtics tied the score at 69. Williams then scored a two for the Nets but the charged up Celtics again went for an 8 nil scoring spree
as they went up 77-71. Boston led 79-74 by the end of the period.
The Celtics’ good work in the third quarter all went down the drain as they were outscored by 10 in the last 12 minutes. An Evan free throw for the Nets cut the deficit down to 80-81 early in the period. Garnett made a jump shot
to put the Celtics up 85-80 but the Nets were in the groove as they scored 5 quick points to tie the score. They then pressed to take the lead, but it was still a two point game with only 24 seconds on the regulation when a Pierce three pointer left the Celtics
trailing 95-97. The Nets kept their cool though and closed the game at 102-97 in the end.
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