Reeling Nets no match for surging Celtics in lopsided loss
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum drives against Nets forward Kessler Edwards during the first half of an NBA game at Barclays Center on Thursday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Steve Nash said he welcomed the test.
"This is what we want," the Nets’ coach said before his struggling team faced one of the hottest in the NBA in the Celtics on Thursday night. "We want to be challenged. We want to be pushed and continue to grow."
Nash got what he asked for, but his team was not up to the task, losing to Boston, 129-106, at Barclays Center in the teams’ first game back from the NBA All-Star break.
Not that anyone ought to be surprised. The shorthanded Nets (31-29) have lost 13 of their last 15 games and are 4-14 without the injured Kevin Durant. The Celtics (35-26) have won 12 of 14.
The game had added meaning because the sixth-place Celtics are one of the teams with which the eighth-place Nets are competing to reach the top six spots in the Eastern Conference and avoid the play-in tournament for the playoffs.
As is his custom, Nash credited his players for their attitude when it was over, but he conceded this performance was a disappointment.
"I told the guys we had two great days of practice, and tonight I don’t think we got better," he said. "I don’t care about the result, but I think we could have played better, could have made less mistakes, done a few things that would have made tonight more productive.
"We recognize we’re shorthanded. We know we’re sending these guys out there and asking them to do more than they’re accustomed to doing, and that’s tough . . . Today we needed a little bit more."
A lot more, actually. The Nets never led and trailed by 29 points in the fourth quarter.
They were without the unvaccinated Kyrie Irving because he is ineligible to play in home games, and they also are awaiting Durant’s return and Ben Simmons’ debut.
Nash said it is unlikely that Durant will be back for Saturday night’s game in Milwaukee, but he expects him to return next week from a knee injury that has kept him out since Jan. 15. The Nets do not want to rush him.
Simmons, who hasn’t played this season, still is working on his conditioning. Nash said Simmons is not as close to playing as Durant is.
The best thing that could be said about the Nets’ start on Thursday was that it was better than the last time they faced the Celtics, on Feb. 8, when they fell behind 28-2 in a 126-91 loss.
The Nets trailed 35-22 at the end of the first period and 67-52 at halftime after trailing by 22 early in the second quarter.
Before the game, Nash called the Celtics "far and away the best defensive team in 2022." But their offense looked pretty good, too. Jayson Tatum scored 30 points and Jaylen Brown added 18.
Nash referenced errors in executing the game plan, and Bruce Brown said one thing to which his coach was referring was the defense allowing Marcus Smart to make five three-pointers in six attempts.
"That’s one player we wanted to shoot a lot of threes," Brown said.
Seth Curry led the Nets with 22 points and Brown had 15. Patty Mills scored one point and was 0-for-9 from the field in 27 ½ minutes. Nash said Mills is tired from being overused out of necessity.
Before and after the game, Nash praised his players for their attitude. But after the rout, he said, "Tonight we weren’t satisfied. We want more."
They will need it. Brown said he is not worried about the standings "because our guys are going to come back and we’re going to take care of business."
Time is running short.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.