Final: Nets 113, Celtics 105 - Fourth quarter comeback attempt falls short

BOSTON CELTICS (8-7) vs BROOKLYN NETS (2-12)

Regular season game 16

TD Garden, 7:30 p.m. - NBC Sports Boston

SCHEDULE ADVANTAGE: Neither. Both teams played on Tuesday in Brooklyn. 

INJURIES

Boston: Jayson Tatum (OUT-Achilles)

Brooklyn: Cam Thomas (OUT-hamstring), Haywood Highsmith (OUT-knee), Ben Saraf (OUT-ankle)

OFFICIALS

Pat Fraher (#26)    Mousa Dagher (#28)    Brandon Schwab (#86)

THINGS I'M LOOKING FOR 

1. Do the turnovers continue?: The Nets forced a season-high 19 turnovers on the Celtics, who had been the best in the NBA at protecting the basketball and winning the turnover differential early this season. Tuesday marked Boston's first decisive loss in that category all year, and their 12 first half giveaways gave the Nets an opportunity to win the fast break margin, 22-0, and stay within 62-61 and gain a lead early in the fourth quarter. The Celtics only committed three turnovers late and forced six in a 24-14 fourth quarter rout. 

2. Another starting lineup change: Jordan Walsh started every games on this three-game win streak for the Celtics, but Josh Minott and Sam Hauser replaced him in the second half after Walsh appeared for only the first 90 seconds of the third quarter. Hauser's strong start could set up a return to the starting unit in an ever-changing Celtics rotation that started the season with him at forward next to Jaylen Brown. 

3. The Cup: The Celtics escaped Philadelphia with a one-point win in their Cup opener before losing by 12 points to the Magic in an Orlando double-header. Boston needs a win by a significant margin tonight to stay alive in the Cup mix alongside the 2-0 Magic and Pistons, who visit TD Garden on Wednesday for the group play finale. Boston is a -12 point differential through their two games, the tiebreaker. Orlando wraps up group play against the Sixers on Tuesday.