Final: Celtics 121, Nets 110 -- Kemba delivers 39 points in comeback performance

Kemba Walker said he was feeling completely fine after his scary collision last Friday night before his return to the court. He lived up to that declaration on Wednesday night. The All-Star scored a season-high 39 points on 13-of-24 FGs, rallying the C's against a red-hot shooting Nets squad to a 121-110 victory in front of the TD Garden crowd. Jaylen Brown added 22 points and 10 rebounds as six different Celtics scored in double figures in the shootout that saw both teams combine for 34 3-pointers. Garrett Temple had a team-high 22 points in the defeat for the Nets who hit 21 3s on the night, just one shy of the franchise record for a Celtics opponent. 

The C's surpassed that firepower in the second half, getting great efforts from Brown, Walker, and Brad Wanamaker (13 points) to erase a nine-point deficit and snap the Nets' four-game winning streak. The C's now face off again with the Nets in Brooklyn on Friday afternoon but head into Thanksgiving with a 13-4 record.

First Half Notes

TWO UP

Kemba Walker: The All-Star showed off no signs of rust in his return from a sprained neck early on, keeping the C’s in the game early with a game-high 17 points in the first half on 6-of-12 shooting from the field. He also dished out a team-high three assists in his 17 first half minutes.

Jaylen Brown: The swingman piled up 11 points in just 14 first half-minutes on 4-of-6 shooting and finished with a team-high plus 5 before the break. Given how well the Nets’ were shooting with him off the floor, the case could be made he needed to be in the game more.

TWO DOWN

Celtics 3-point defense: This was an area of focus after Buddy Hield erupted for 41 points on Monday night but the C’s did not tighten things up defensively, allowing the Nets to erupt to 10 3-points in the second quarter alone (10-of-16).

Carsen Edwards:  Three missed shots and a team-worst minus-8 over six first half minutes. He found some rhythm with rookie teammate Tremont Waters on Monday night but he’s down to 32 percent shooting on the year. That’s not enough to justify consistent playing time at this point.

TOP PLAY

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="in" dir="ltr">? Kemba spin cycle ? <a href="https://t.co/MsXdVeXxMR">pic.twitter.com/MsXdVeXxMR</a></p>&mdash; Boston Celtics (@celtics) <a href="https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1199857943681781760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 28, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

• Kemba Walker (neck) and Daniel Theis (illness) are both expected to make their returns to the floor after going through shootaround on Wednesday morning.


• Kyrie Irving (shoulder) and Caris LaVert (thumb) are out for the Nets who have won four straight games and are 4-1 overall with Irving sidelined.


• Kemba on the team's toughness battling through injuries: "I think we're a tough group. We hit some adversity, which is kind of expected, but it's all about the team kind of overcoming the adversity. I think we're learning that we're really resilient, and we're together. We understand that in wins we are together and in losses we are together. We've got to take it how it is and move on to the next and just keep on responding to whatever challenges come our way, and I think that's what we've been doing."


• Look for a tough challenge on the interior against Jarrett Allen tonight for the C's who has taken over the starting center job for the Nets from DeAndre Jordan. He's averaging a double-double with over two blocks per game during the winning streak.