Everything you need to know about the Nets' 112-107 win with BSJ insight and analysis
HEADLINES
C’s have no answer for Dinwiddie in rematch with Nets: The Nets may have been missing their All-Star point guard in this one, but the Celtics made Spencer Dinwiddie (32 points, 11 assists) look like one as the Nets held on for a 112-107 win at the Barclays Center. Five different Nets scored in double figures for Brooklyn’s high-powered offense as the team combined to shoot 41 percent from 3 while picking apart Boston’s defense with their drive-and-kick attacks.
Jayson Tatum (26 points, 9 rebounds) had a nice bounce-back game from Wednesday night but he got little help from the rest of Boston’s starters as Kemba Walker (6-of-19 FG), Marcus Smart (4-of-13 FG) struggled with their shot while Jaylen Brown was held to just nine points.
The C’s were very sloppy offensively with a season-high 19 turnovers in the matinee and those miscues led to several transition opportunities for the shorthanded Nets.
Boston drops to 13-5 on the year and they will remain in New York until Sunday when they face off against the Knicks.
Offensive woes loom large: While giving up 112 points is never pretty against a shorthanded Nets team without two of their top weapons, it was the offense that was the bigger issue for much of the day. The visitors piled up a season-low 16 assists, a season-high 19 turnovers and shot just 32 percent from 3-point range while knocking down only nine 3s. That’s not going to be enough to get the job done against a team that is running on all cylinders in their own gym. There was not enough intensity out of the gate or smart ball movement all day long and that proved costly in the defeat.
Kyrie embraces with former teammates postgame: The former C’s point guard missed his eighth straight game with a shoulder injury but did watch from the bench alongside Kevin Durant. After the game, he embraced with several of his former teammates including Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart, and Smart sent a strong message in the locker room afterward that he hopes the fanbase would move on.
Kyrie Irving showing his former #Celtics teammates some love after the game pic.twitter.com/YQ2JXJSzgb
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) November 29, 2019
"Quite frankly, I'm really honestly, tired of hearing about Kyrie,” Smart told reporters in Brooklyn. “Kyrie's no longer with the Boston Celtics. It's a slap across everybody on this team that's here now to keep hearing Kyrie's name because every last one of these guys have put in the work, we continue to put in the work. We're here and still competing, and yet everybody, including the Boston fans, wanna talk about Kyrie. Let's talk about the Boston Celtics."
TURNING POINT
The C’s second unit was chipping away at the Nets’ lead in the second half, cutting it down to four early in the frame before giving up a pair of transition 3s to Garrett Temple to push the lead back into double-digits. Boston never got any closer than four the rest of the way.
TWO UP
Jayson Tatum: The third-year forward bounced back from an ugly outing against the Nets on Wednesday to carry the C’s offense in the first half on his way to a team-high 26 points. He was red-hot specifically in the second quarter after knocking down 4-of-5 3s, scoring 12 points in the frame. He led all scorers with 18 at halftime on 7-of-11 shooting and added a team-high six rebounds.
Brad Wanamaker: The reserve guard continues to be rock solid off the bench in a ball-handling role with the second unit. He helped the visitors erase a 14-point deficit with 5 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and a crucial block in just 10 first-half minutes. Good things continue to happen on both ends when he’s on the court.
TWO DOWN
Marcus Smart in the first half: He was misfiring from all over the court in the first half, missing seven of his first eight shots from the field, including all four from 3-point range that helped dig the visitors into an early hole.
Celtics centers: Brad Stevens tried four at the position in the second half as he searched for an answer on both ends to Jarrett Allen. Whether it was defense (Kanter, Theis) or offense (Rob Williams, Grant Williams), miscues happened early and often that left the position looking exposed all afternoon.
TOP PLAY
The man is on ??@jaytatum0 has 18 points at the half. pic.twitter.com/plId18bDgl
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 29, 2019
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
The Celtics starters weren’t ready to start this game: Not a big surprise on the day after Thanksgiving with a Noon start but with the Nets coming out hungry in a rematch, the C’s starters took too long to get going in this one. Tatum was sloppy with his passing (six turnovers) while Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker were both missing. The starting group (outside of Tatum) was pretty bad all game long as they combined for 13 turnovers and shot a collective 1-of-15 from 3-point range outside of Tatum. The second unit did what it could to help close the gap but there isn’t enough talent top to bottom within that group right now to overcome big deficits without getting some help from the starting unit, especially with Gordon Hayward out of the lineup.
The center position is going to be a rollercoaster ride: Daniel Theis only played 33 seconds in the second half of this one after a bruised knee/ugly first half got him the early hook in favor of Enes Kanter. While Kanter had his moments in the first half offensively, the C’s interior defense fell apart with him on the floor after intermission. Stevens tried to turn to Grant Williams and Rob Williams to slow down the bleeding on defense but their offensive limitations were tough to overcome while the C’s were digging out of a hole. All of this is what was expected before the season began from such an inexperienced group. While everyone has had their moments, there is no crunch-time option in the middle that is consistent for this group yet and that’s troublesome for a team that has aspirations to get out of the Eastern Conference.