When the Brooklyn Nets faced the Boston Celtics in recent seasons, the results didn’t favor Brooklyn.
The Nets nearly secured a victory in Boston last Friday night by starting strong but struggled down the stretch and fell in overtime.
Brooklyn hopes to put itself in a position to finish off a rare win over the Celtics on Wednesday night when the teams meet at the Barclays Center.
Boston is 11-1 in the past 12 regular-season meetings with Brooklyn and has won the last five. Of the Celtics’ 11 wins in that span, eight have been by double digits.
In the first meeting of a season where the Celtics are strong favorites to repeat as champions and the Nets are projected to be among the NBA’s worst teams, Boston earned a 108-104 overtime win on November 8. The Celtics won despite allowing the game’s first 12 points.
Brooklyn’s close call in Boston was part of a three-game trip. The next night, the Nets held a 12-point lead entering the fourth quarter but ended up losing 105-100 to the unbeaten Cleveland Cavaliers.
On Monday, the Nets made enough plays down the stretch to secure a 107-105 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, improving to 5-4 in their last nine games since opening the season with road losses to the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic.
Leading scorer Cam Thomas hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 32.9 seconds left on Monday, and the Nets made a pair of defensive stops. Brooklyn placed seven players in double figures and hit a season-high 19 3-pointers.
Thomas led the Nets with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Cameron Johnson added 15 points and Dennis Schroder contributed 14.
The Nets used a different starting lineup by bringing Ben Simmons off the bench. He finished with six points and 12 assists. Ziaire Williams started for Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle sprain) and might do so again if the veteran forward is unable to play.
Boston will attempt to avoid consecutive losses for the first time this season after squandering a 15-point lead in its 117-116 home defeat to the Hawks on Tuesday in its first in-season tournament game. Jaylen Brown, who missed Friday’s game against Brooklyn, scored a season-high 37 points, and Derrick White added 31. Jayson Tatum was held to 20 points on 5-of-16 shooting from the field as the Celtics were outplayed in numerous aspects against Atlanta.
Boston gave up 63 points in the second half and committed a season-worst 20 turnovers. The Celtics also conceded a season-high 20 offensive rebounds.
