Celtics chase offensive improvement against lowly Nets
Although the Boston Celtics are coming off one of their worst offensive performances of the season, Jaylen Brown believes his team has plenty to feel good about entering its Friday night game against the visiting Brooklyn Nets.
The Celtics turned in a lackluster second half on Wednesday on a 103-84 road loss to the Denver Nuggets. Boston's point total and shooting percentage (34.9%) were both season lows, and the Celtics were outscored 56-36 in the final two quarters.
The result ended Boston's four-game winning streak. Three of those victories came on the road.
"It would've been great to finish out strong on the road trip with a win, but 3-1 on a West Coast swing, coming straight out of All-Star break is not half-bad," Brown said. "We just gotta continue to get better little by little.
"I like where we're at as a group. I think we're playing some really good basketball. I think our guys have developed in areas that we continue to just push along, so we just gotta keep that up."
Boston was playing its third game in four nights on Wednesday. The Celtics beat the Phoenix Suns 97-81 on Tuesday without Brown (right knee contusion), but he led the Celtics in points (23) and rebounds (11) against Denver.
"I like where we're at as a team," Brown said. "It's a good test going back home, playing in front of our home crowd, but we got some tough matchups coming up so we gotta be ready."
The Celtics are 9-2 in their past 11 games.
"(A) 3-1 trip ... played four good teams," Boston's Derrick White said. "We knew it was going to be a tough back-to-back. I think we're in a really good spot. Obviously, there's a lot to improve on and we're going to continue to work on. But it's a big game coming up here on Friday. We gotta be ready to go for that."
A game against the Nets may be just what the Celtics need to get back on track. Brooklyn fell 126-110 to the visiting San Antonio Spurs on Thursday, the Nets' sixth consecutive loss. Michael Porter led the Nets with 25 points and 14 rebounds.
"I do believe we can be better than this and that's the message: Work to be better. Be ready to compete," Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said after the latest defeat. "We're not wasting opportunities. Every game of the last 24 has to be played with intention.
"We move on to the next one. It's an exciting game (Friday). I know the whole team cares. We just have to go out and fight and be 1% better."
Brooklyn rank last in the NBA in scoring (107.0 points per game), field-goal percentage (44.4%) and rebounding (40.4 boards per game).
Although he didn't score, Josh Minott made his Brooklyn debut in the Thursday loss. Boston sent Minott to Brooklyn for cash considerations at the trade deadline.
Minott most recently was playing for the Long Island Nets, Brooklyn's G League affiliate. He averaged 5.8 points and 3.6 rebounds in 15.9 minutes per game with the Celtics this season.
The Friday game will be the fourth meeting between Brooklyn and Boston this season. The Celtics won 113-99 on the road on Nov. 18 before the Nets prevailed 113-105 in Boston three days later. The most recent matchup was a 130-126 double-overtime road win for the Celtics on Jan. 23, when Brown logged 27 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.