New Jersey Nets defeat Boston Celtics 88-79
Four out of their five starters scored in double figures, as the New Jersey Nets rolled onto their fifth straight win with an 88 -79 victory against the Boston Celtics at the Prudential Centre on Monday night.
The victory gave the Nets their longest winning streak in three years. Boston on the other hand, crashed to their third loss in four games and are now tied with the Chicago Bulls at the summit of the Eastern Conference standings.
Brook Lopez and Kris Humphries collected a combined total of 36 points and 20 boards. Meanwhile, Deron Williams had 16 points, nine assists and a decisive three-pointer late in the game, as he returned after a two-game absence following the birth of his
fourth child in Dallas.
Celtic’s Kevin Garnett told reporters after the game, "We knew they've been playing well lately, playing with a lot more energy. D-Will, he's come over here and gave them sort of like a winning mentality, seems to be working for them. Kris (Humphries) is
playing really well for them, Brook (Lopez) is playing really well."
Kevin Garnett started the game off in style with three consecutive jumpers to give the Celtics an early 6–2 lead. New Jersey though bounced back and led by 14–9 with the clock six and a half minutes left in the first period. However, the Nets offence completely
froze in front of the stifling Boston defence in the remainder of the period and failed to connect on their shots. The Celtics capitalised on their woes and sprinted to a 14-0 run, taking a 23-14 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
The Celtics shooting woes soon caught up with them in the second quarter, forcing their coach Doc Rivers to give his starters a rest. With the Celtics reserves playing almost the whole quarter, Boston could only manage 15 points. Rondo had a bad shooting
night, going 1-10 and missing all of his shots in the first half.
Rondo was disappointed with his performance on the night. He said, "Obviously we didn't shoot well. I didn't shoot well; we’ve got to get better looks at the basket. I know we had a lot of wide-open shots, some shots we made, a lot of shots we missed tonight
that we usually make."
Boston was up 38–36 at the half-time break. Buoyed by the home crowd, the Nets stepped up their efforts in the third quarter and finished strongly with consecutive three pointers by Anthony Morrow and Sundiata Gaines in the final 34 seconds. Gaines buried
his long-range rainbow shot at the buzzer, as the Nets led 67-61.
The Nets then held on to their lead and outscored Boston 21-18 in the fourth quarter to cruise to their fifth straight win. Kevin Garnett had 18 points and eight rebounds, while Glen Davis also had a good game with 16 points and 14 boards. Ray Allen added
19 points on 8–14 shooting from the field.
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