A breakdown of key plays, stats and analysis from the Celtics’ 121-109 loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
The second half of the Boston Celtics' season got off to a rough start Thursday night as the Brooklyn Nets established their dominance over their Eastern Conference foe.
It was a back-and-forth game until the fourth quarter, when the Nets outscored the C's by 10 to pull away and earn the 121-109 victory, snapping Boston's four-game winning streak.
C's-Nets highlights: Irving, Harden outduel Tatum
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Jayson Tatum struggled out the gate, but the 23-year-old ended up leading the Celtics with 31 points on 13-of-22 shooting. Marcus Smart also was a difference-maker in his return to the court despite the loss.
Here are three quick takeaways from the C's defeat, which brings them to 19-18 on the campaign.
1. Kyrie Irving sticks it to his former team (again).
It was a tough game for Celtics fans to watch for a number of reasons, but one of the biggest was the sensational performance of Kyrie Irving.
The ex-C's guard lit up his former team for a game-high 40 points on 15-for-23 shooting (5-for-8 from 3). Boston simply couldn't contain Irving in the paint or beyond the arc, and it ultimately cost them on Thursday night.
This is becoming a trend for Irving vs. the Celtics. On Christmas Day, he dropped 37 points and shot 13-for-21 from the field. Perhaps he did put a curse on the C's with his sage-burning routine after all.
2. It's hard to picture the C's beating the Nets come playoff time ... even with a deadline deal.
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Danny Ainge says he'll "most likely" wait until the offseason to use the Celtics' $28.5 million traded player exception, and that could be the wisest choice after all. A Harrison Barnes, Jerami Grant, JJ Redick or any other name that has been brought up in C's trade rumors isn't going to make Boston a better team than Brooklyn.
Even without Kevin Durant, the Nets showed they simply play on a whole other level offensively. If Durant is able to stay healthy down the stretch -- and yes, that's a big "if" -- then forget about it. This Celtics team is no match for the Nets in a seven-game series. As shown on Thursday night, that may even be the case even with Durant sidelined.
The Nets now have won 11 of their last 12 games and are right on the 76ers' heels for first place in the East.
3. A rusty Jaylen Brown, a spry Marcus Smart.
A two-part takeaway here.
First off, this one was not pretty for Jaylen Brown, who recently starred in the first All-Star Game of his promising NBA career. The 24-year-old couldn't gain any sort of rhythm offensively as he was a putrid 5-for-23 from the floor and only 3-of-12 from 3-point range.
While the Celtics certainly could have used the All-Star version of Brown in this game, it'd be silly to take anything serious away from his lackluster performance. Chalk it up to a little bit of rust after a week off and move on.
(On the plus side, he did do this):
As for Marcus Smart, he was a bright for Boston in what otherwise was a deflating loss. The Celtics' spark plug returned from his 18-game hiatus to contribute 19 points in 21 minutes off the bench.
Smart wasn't the defensive stopper C's fans hoped he'd be vs. Irving and James Harden, but we can expect him to provide a major boost in that phase of the game going forward. At least, the Celtics better hope so.
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Next up for the Celtics is a trip to Houston on Sunday to take on the Rockets. Tip-off for that matchup is set for 8 p.m. ET.
