After blowing a big chance at a big win Thursday night, Boston was outplayed for most of the game, allowing New Jersey to earn just its sixth win of the season.
The C’s have 18 turnovers, make 3-of-19 3-pointers and score 23 fewer points from the line as the Nets go 34-of-41 at the stripe.
Boston has two days off to mull over back-to-back bad losses, the first against the league’s best team and the second against its worst. The C’s are next in action Tuesday in Detroit and may have Paul Pierce back for that one.
Fourth quarter, 44.6 seconds, Nets 103-94: More misses from outside for the Celtics and one more make from the Nets on the line and this one is just about sealed up. To say some of these fans are stunned is an understatement.
Fourth quarter, 1:02, Nets 102-94: After Brook Lopez makes two free throws the Nets are 32-of-37 from the line. Interestingly enough, New Jersey owns the most made free throws against the Celtics this season with 33 back on Jan. 13.
Fourth quarter, 1:28, Nets 100-92: That is a huge miss by Ray Allen as another 3-pointer would have brought the roof off this place.
Kris Humphries scores moments later and the Nets have calmed things down a bit in here. The Celtics cannot afford any empty possessions going forward.
Fourth quarter, 2:05, Nets 98-92: Unreal. The Celtics, down 18 just moments ago and flirting with becoming the talk of the NBA world by falling at home to a historically bad team, have erupted.
Ray Allen’s 3-pointer is part of a 16-4 burst.
Fourth quarter, 3:05 Nets 98-87: A Kevin Garnett dunk brings a few more fans to their feet, but Devin Harris sits them right back down with a three-point play.
The Nets are now 30-of-34 from the line.
Fourth quarter, 3:47, Nets 94-83: Some signs of life as the Celtics score seven straight after the Nets opened up a game-high 18-point lead.
Included in the burst is a 3-pointer by Rasheed Wallace. The bomb gives Boston a 2-of-14 mark from the arc. New Jersey, the worst shooting team in the league, is 6-of-13.
Fourth quarter, 6:02, Nets 90-76: Kevin Garnett returns and immediately buries a jumper. Garnett will finish with about 28 minutes played, which is about what he has seen since returning from his knee injury, but it begs for more on a day in which he has been the Celtics’ best player by far.
He has 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting.
By the way, there was a Boston foul before the timeout and Doc Rivers threw his hands up as if to suggest he’s had enough. The C’s have been called for 23 fouls to the Nets’ 11.
Also, Courtney Lee will not return after spraining his left ankle earlier this quarter.
Fourth quarter, 7:35, Nets 87-72: An alley-oop from Devin Harris to Chris Douglas-Roberts is followed up by an incredible basket and foul by Harris.
With the free throw the Nets have their largest lead of the game.
Fourth quarter, 8:55, Nets 80-70: Third time’s a charm as the Celtics get two offensive boards and finally a baseline jumper from Rajon Rondo to crawl to within eight points.
But Devin Harris makes both to keep it a double-digit affair and bump the Nets to 24-of-27 from the line. Boston is just 7-of-9.
Fourth quarter, 10:57, Nets 78-66: Courtney Lee was calling for the ball after opening the fourth with a jumper and wanting more. But he is limping after being fouled on his next attempt.
He manaages to regroup and make both free throws and the lead is back up to 12 for New Jersey.
End of third quarter, Nets 74-64: There was a golden opportunity for the Celtics to grab the momentum entering the fourth, but it went away in an instant.
First, Devin Harris hits a big jumper to quiet the crowd and then Rajon Rondo throws the ball away, leading to two free throws by Brook Lopez.
Finally, Brian Scalabrine misses a wide-open 3-pointer at the buzzer, and misses by plenty. Kinda took the air out of the place in a heartbeat.
A 10-point deficit with 12 minutes to play.
Third quarter, 40 seconds, Nets 72-64: The C’s nearly get a Rasheed Wallace heave in to beat the shot clock buzzer, but instead grab the offensive rebound and see Nate Robinson bury a 3-pointer to finally bring this place to life.
Third quarter, 3:01, Nets 68-59: The Celtics have quietly scored five straight points after Courtney Lee’s 3-pointer gave the Nets a game-high 14-point advantage.
Kevin Garnett is still alone on the sidelines (without any trainers checking him out) and we’ll likely see him back out there after a little more rest.
Third quarter, 3:21, Nets 68-58: Moments after getting up slowly following a mix-up underneath, Kevin Garnett gets a tip-in for his second straight basket.
But Garnett is quickly lifted and is having that troublesome knee looked at. He appears to be OK and waved off trainer Ed Lacerte.
Third quarter, 5:14, Nets 65-52: A Devin Harris gives the Nets their largest lead of the game and causes a few more groans to emerge from the Garden faithful.
The Celtics have turned the ball over four more times in the third, the latest one in which Rajon Rondo threw a pass to Ray Allen on the wing that was easily intercepted.
Boston has 13 turnovers overall.
Third quarter, 6:16, Nets 63-52: Marquis Daniels is whistled for an offensive foul, his fourth, and is taken out in favor of Brian Scalabrine. It’s the second straight half in which a Celtics starter picked up two quick ones and needed to be sat down.
Third quarter, 7:57, Nets 57-50: Prior to a little 4-0 run the Celtics had a series which seemed to sum up their woes this afternoon.
First, Marquis Daniels lost the ball for the club’s 10th turnover. Trenton Hassell picked up the loose ball and after dripping down found Brook Lopez literally untouched underneath.
The Nets best player turned and was almost surprised at how little resistance he was met with before tossing in a little hook to give New Jersey its largest lead at 53-42.
Third quarter, 11:55, Nets 49-42: We are off and running the third quarter, beginning the last 24 minutes before the Celtics begin a busy March.
Halftime, Nets 49-42: The listless C’s shoot 7-of-19 in the second quarter and enter the locker room trailing the Nets.
All I keep thinking of is the old sports adage which suggests that the longer you keep a bad team around, the more confidence they will gain. That was nearly the case when the Nets were here Feb. 5, but they went cold down the stretch.
Facing a Celtics unit that has shown no energy after Thursday night’s debacle, New Jersey will have another chance at an elusive win in the second half of this one.
Kevin Garnett has 10 points and five rebounds for Boston. His teammates are a combined 14-of-32 from the floor and have nine turnovers. Brook Lopez has 13 points to lead the Nets.
Second quarter, 54.0 seconds, Nets 49-40: Another technical foul for Kendrick Perkins after he is whistled for a travel, his third turnover of the game.
Second quarter, 1:23, Nets 46-40: The biggest cheer of the afternoon comes when Kevin Garnett rips down a shot after the whistle by Trenton Hassell. In games like this the crowd needs something to get it going.
Second quarter, 2:38, Nets 46-38: The one and only constant for the Celtics in this one has been Kevin Garnett, but he already sat for a stretch of more than 11 minutes.
Garnett is 5-of-5 from the floor and has 10 points and four rebounds. Certainly Doc Rivers needs to monitor his minutes from time to time but he may need to lean on Garnett a bit more in the second half if the C’s are to avoid embarrassment.
Second quarter, 4:06, Nets 46-36: Brook Lopez has 13 points for the Nets but it seems like so many more than that. He has established some excellent inside position on any Celtic thrown at him, and just showed his other abilities by passing out of a double to find Keyon Dooling for a 3-pointer.
On the heels of the Dooling basket is a possession in which the Nets get two offensive rebounds, the second of which yields a Lopez hoop.
The Nets have now outscored the Celtics 42-24 over the past 14 minutes of game action.
Second quarter, 7:08, Nets 37-31: The Nets take their largest lead on a basket by Terrence Williams and there is very little energy on the Celtics side of things, despite my previous post.
Doc Rivers has been forced to call an angry timeout for the second time in as many quarters. Remember, Rivers said after Thursday’s loss that he was struggling for answers with how to gain some form of consistency.
For now, he’s made the right move to put Rajon Rondo back in. Despite some OK minutes from Nate Robinson, this team needs Rondo’s energy out there right now. Both of the little men are on the floor and we will see some pace to the game right now.
Second quarter, 10:07, 29-29: The second unit shows some much-needed defensive spunk early in the second quarter and Tony Allen ties things up with an offensive rebound and basket.
End of First Quarter, Nets 29-27: When Rajon Rondo left with two fouls at the 8:21 mark, the Celtics led 12-4. Without him in the lineup, the Nets outscored the C’s, 25-15.
Five turnovers have hurt Boston, as has a defensive effort that won’t be used to instruct youth leagues anytime soon.
New Jersey’s first lead came with seconds to go in the first when Keyon Dooling nailed a 3-pointer.
First quarter, 1:16, 25-25: Brook Lopez sinks two free throws to forge the third tie of the first quarter and this one is taking on a similar feel to the last time the Nets were here, when Boston just let them hang around with some extremely lackluster defense.
First quarter, 3:47, Celtics 22-20: The Celtics are shooting 10-of-13 while the Nets are just 6-of-14, yet it is just a two-point lead.
First quarter, 5:23, Celtics 16-15: Yi Jianlian gets the Nets first field nearly five minutes into the game. It takes them just 43 seconds to get the second, a Devin Harris 3-pointer, and two more come in the next minute-plus.
It’s all part of a 13-4 run for New Jersey, which has forced four Celtics turnovers, much to Doc Rivers’ chagrin.
First quarter, 8:21, Celtics 12-4: Nate Robinson with an early appearance after Rajon Rondo picks up two fouls in a short span.
First quarter, 8:43, Celtics 12-2: With the Nets 0-of-4 from the floor and the Celtics 6-of-6, we are reminded of what happened when these two teams met in the Meadowlands on Jan. 13.
In that meeting, the C’s led by 21 points before the first quarter ended and by 30 midway through the second.
First quarter, 8:58, Celtics 10-2: It’s almost alarming to go from the vibe Thursday night against Cleveland to a matinee audience against the Nets, but the C’s have some business to tend to regardless of the lack of energy in the room.
Look for Kevin Garnett to be a big part of that as Yi Jianlian simply cannot play him. Garnett has six points early on.
First quarter, 11:55, 0-0: We are off and running at the Garden in the opener of a seven-game stretch of softer opponents for the Celtics, who need to make some hay during the next two weeks.
Entering today, the only team on the C’s schedule over the first two weeks of March with a record above .500 is Milwaukee at 29-28.
It is a run of cupcakes which ends, you guessed it, in Cleveland on March 14.
1:00 p.m.: Starting lineups for both teams are in and we are just about set for February’s final game.
Marquis Daniels gets another start in place of Paul Pierce, and will be alongside Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins.
The Nets, losers of four straight, go with Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Trenton Hassell, Yi Jianlian and Brook Lopez.
12:30 p.m.: Greetings from the Garden, where the flu-ridden Celtics are getting set to take on the downtrodden Nets.
Fresh off their disappointing loss to Cleveland on Thursday, the C’s got together yesterday to take in a viewing of the new HBO documentary “Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals.”
Coach Doc Rivers felt watching the film might do more for his team than a day of practice.
“I thought we needed to be together,” Rivers said. “Instead of watching us play, instead of watching a horror film, I thought we would catch a good movie.”
With the flu bug continuing to run its course through the locker room, a few hours of rest could only help. Rivers said that Marquis Daniels, who was a game-time decision Thursday because of the flu, is starting to feel much better, but guys like Kevin Garnett and Glen Davis are starting to feel the effects.
“The whole team. There’s no way to avoid it,” Rivers said. “After this [game] we get two days off so hopefully we can start to get better.”
Those two days should be big for Paul Pierce, who continues to work his way back from a thumb injury. Rivers said Pierce is catching balls without any significant pain and is near a return.
“Our guess is next week, hopefully Monday or Tuesday or whenever we play,” Rivers said.
The Celts next play Tuesday in Detroit.
10:38 a.m.: Following a fourth-quarter failure in a loss to Cleveland on Thursday and still without their ailing captain, the Celtics are in need of a quick fix.
Enter the hapless New Jersey Nets, Boston’s opponent in a TD Garden matinee which caps a three-game homestand.
The 5-52 Nets stand in stark contrast to the Cavaliers, who turned a nine-point second-half deficit into a 108-88 win over the stunned Celtics the other night.
It was a collapse which prompted coach Doc Rivers to tell reporters afterward that there was “nothing I can do” to get his team to play more consistently.
Before we look at New Jersey and automatically add one to Boston’s win total, remember that the Nets led with less than 10 minutes remaining in their last visit to the Garden on Feb. 5. The Celts did end up winning, 96-87, to extend their run in the series to 12 straight victories.
Paul Pierce is expected to miss his third straight game and 10th this season with a thumb injury. Otherwise, it’s all systems go as Boston looks for its eighth win in 12 games.
