Revenge travels well. Three nights after he let one slip away at the Barclays Center, Networks didn't flinch in Friday's rematch against Boston. Celtics at TD Garden with a 113-105 win to move to 3-12 and 1-2 in NBA Cup East Group B.
The first minutes made it clear that Brooklyn had come to complete what it could not do on Tuesday.
The Nets set the early tone by sharing the ball and defending energetically as Boston struggled to find its feet and trailed by seven. But the floor quickly tilted. The Nets cooled off while Boston's scorers warmed up and went on a 16-3 run to finish the game first. Brooklyn's offense rallied at the final 2:39, turning an encouraging opening into a 28-22 deficit.
Then Drake Powell shook them up. A few seconds into the second quarter, the rookie forward jumped on Anfernee Simons pass, intercepted the interception and raced down the court to two-handed the same Celtic who coughed him up. The highlight of the game sparked a 10-2 run that briefly restored the Nets' two-point lead with 9:44 left in the half.
After the break, Brooklyn finished the half on a 14-5 run and entered the locker room with the largest lead, 62-53. Rookie guard Egor Demin capped the drive with an aggressive layup and moments later added a steal to set up an easy transition finish for Noah Clowney.
Demin led the Nets with five assists in the first half, but none were more poignant than Powell's baseline drive for one of Brooklyn's first eight 3-pointers. He followed up his assists with nine points on hard drives to the basket and five rebounds, becoming just the fifth Nets rookie since 1997-98 to have five rebounds and five assists in one half. Clowney, Michael Porter Jr. and Nic Claxton all reached double figures as Brooklyn shot 50 percent before the break. The Nets turned it over just five times and held Boston to 42.6 percent field goal percentage.
And Brooklyn didn't sink into another sluggish third quarter, as it did on Tuesday or so many times this season. At the 10:22 mark, Terence Mann hit a 3-pointer when Claxton caught his miss and found the open man to push the lead to 12.
Boston retreated, but Jaylen Brown picked up his fifth foul with six minutes left in the third and the Nets scored three, knocking off the Celtics' leading scorer. Brooklyn continued to push on, ending the period on a 21-9 run with Brown on the bench, building a 92-77 lead and quieting the TD Garden crowd.
It didn't last long. Brown checked in again with 7:47 left in the game and the Celtics were already on the run. The 18-point lead was cut to six after Jordan Walsh's 3-pointer with 7:05 left, forcing a Nets timeout. Porter briefly stopped the bleeding with a triple on Brooklyn's next possession, but the Celtics continued to attack as the momentum shifted in their favor.
But just when the Celtics seemed poised to take the lead, Demin calmly picked up the ball and hit a 26-footer to push Brooklyn's lead back to five. The Nets then made a series of stops, Porter went nuclear, and they were up nine points with 2:50 left.
Porter scored 16 of his game-high 33 points in the fourth, leading Brooklyn to its third win despite Boston winning the quarter 28–21. Claxton recorded his first career triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and a career-best 12 assists, the Nets' first since Ben Simmons in 2023. Clowney remained strong with 19 points and three rebounds.
Brown led Boston with 26 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 32 minutes.
The Nets continue their road trip Sunday against Toronto. Predators at Scotiabank Arena.
