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Nets fail to find a rhythm as they fall to the Celtics, 93-76

It was an early Christmas "gift" for Nets fans as they saw their team fall to the Celtics, 93-76.

By Tom Lorenzo
Mike Stobe

Christmas could have started one of two ways for Brooklyn Nets fans: either the Nets win and you get an extra Christmas gift or they lose and you're forced to spend the rest of the day trying to recover after having seen your team lose to the Boston Celtics.

Unfortunately, Nets fans had to settle for the latter, as they watched their team sleep walk through a 93-76 loss to the Celtics.

It was so bad Brett Yormark tweeted post-game: "Nets fans deserved better today. The entire organization needs to work harder to find the solution. We will get there."

The game started off with some struggle, for both teams. For the Celtics it was an offensive struggle as they shot just over 40 percent from the floor in the first 12 minutes. For the Nets, they were efficient from the floor, shooting at 53 percent from the field, but they did turn the ball over six times in the first quarter. Still, they managed to enter the second with a 24-22 lead.

In the second quarter the Celtics started to find a bit of a rhythm, while the Nets' second unit struggled. Aside from Jerry Stackhouse, they got little production from the bench in the second quarter, on both sides of the floor. Boston rattled off a 15-2 run, midway through the second quarter, and started to pull away. The Celtics built a 14-point halftime lead, thanks to their ability to clean up off the glass and force 10 turnovers -- while coughing up just three of their own. It was one of the least inspiring second quarters played by the Nets this year and unfortunately a sign of things to come.

Avery Johnson decided to switch things up a little to start the third, starting Reggie Evans at power forward, with the Nets struggling off the glass and Andray Blatche having just a terrible first half -- two points on 1-of-5 shooting, two turnovers and one rebound in 11 minutes.

Things didn't go as planned, to start the quarter, as the Nets hit just two field goals in the first seven minutes of the third before finally going on a bit of a run -- at least in the flow of this game, where hitting two-straight jumpers was considered a "rhythm."

Over a three-minute span the Nets were able to pull within eight thanks to Joe Johnson's stretch offense and Blatche being more active off the glass and on the defensive end. That didn't last long, though, as the Celtics closed out the quarter on a 7-0 run, to take a 73-58 lead.

In the fourth quarter it was much of the same for both teams. Things got a bit chippy between Gerald Wallace and Kevin Garnett, and then later when Jared Sullinger was called on a flagrant foul on Wallace, but the game essentially remained the same.

Sadly, Deron Williams was pretty much nonexistent in this one, scoring just 10 points with six assists and four turnovers in 32 minutes. Really, the whole team was to blame for this one. You can't turn the ball over 20 times and shoot just 40 percent from the floor and 58.6 percent from the free-throw line and expect to come away with a victory.

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Game 27: Boston Celtics @ Brooklyn Nets

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