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No Kyrie as Nets, Celtics play a Black Friday matinee

By Brian Fleurantin
Sacramento Kings v Boston Celtics Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

Can't win em all. The Brooklyn Nets brought their four game winning streak to Boston for a nationally televised showdown against the Celtics. Brooklyn fought hard, but it wasn't enough as the C's came away with a good win.

The opponent today will be the Boston Celtics. Read about Wednesday's game —and its aftermath— in our stories posted overnight.

Where to follow the game

YES Network on TV. WFAN 101.9 FM on radio. A daytime affair so the party's getting started after noon. Perfect time to get to work on those Thanksgiving leftovers.

Injuries

No Caris Levert or Wilson Chandler ... or Kyrie Irving. Nets looked at Irving’s shoulder impingement Thursday and decided to sit him another day.

DeAndre Jordan is probable after being hampered by an ankle injury all week.

Both Sean Marks and Kenny Atkinson had said Wednesday that Irving’s condition would be reviewed Thursday.

“He’s improving well,” Marks told Cassidy Hubbarth of ESPN. “We watched him work out today. So, he’s getting there. But, again I think we’ll re-evaluate him when we get back from this road trip after Thanksgiving and see where it goes from there.”

Similarly, Atkinson told ESPN’s Malika Andrews that he would not commit to whether or not Irving will play “We’ll see... we are not going to give a timetable,” Atkinson added.

So, close but no Kyrie.

Gordon Hayward is out. So is Romeo Langford.

The game

Head to the top of the story for Wednesday's recaps.

Even though he didn't play on Wednesday, Boston fans spent the night heckling Kyrie Irving. Irving took to Instagram after the game to share his feelings on various things:

He's got a point in there. We'll probably dog in to it more when the Nets return to Boston in March. In the mean time, ignore NBA Twitter.

Welcome back, Kemba. After missing one game with a neck injury, Walker came back firing on all cylinders and scored a season high 39 points on Wednesday. Spencer Dinwiddie will look to hold it down for the Nets starters today. Dinwiddie's shot wasn't there on Wednesday, but he did have an 11/1 assist to turnover ratio in the game. What's going to be important for the Nets is having Dinwiddie make positivr contributions on nights when his shot isn't falling. He's been wonderful over the past two weeks and he should have a bounce back game with his shot today.

Tricky thing about game flow in the regular season is while you want to keep your best player's minutes a bit on the low side to preserve their health for the long season, you have to know when to get them back in when the game is on the line. While the Nets are shorthanded, Kenny Atkinson will have to make sure things don't get too out of hsnd with the second unit.

One more showing like that and Garrett Temple might force his way into the starting lineup when Caris Levert returns.

Player to watch: Jaylen Brown

Gotta admit, it's taken some time getting used to Brown with this haircut. That said, he's been off to a solid start after signing his four year contract extension earlier this Fall. As you'd expect with Irving and Al Horford gone, more playmaking opportunities sre available for Brown, and he's making the most out of it. His shooting percentages are up, his assists are up, and his turnovers are down. Combine that with solid defense and positional versatility and you've got yourself a real nice player to build your foundation around. He's also a really smart brother and I always find myself interested in hearing what he has to say.

Joe Harris will get another chance to show out. Harris had good numbers on Wednesday, but there was one moment that stood out. After Jayson Tatum dunked on him, Harris came right back and connected on a three pointer. Mike Breen and Doris Burke talked about it some during the boradcast, but it's worth bringing up here as well. It would've been easy to retreat after you got boomed on and the crowd going wild, but Harris kept his cool and immediately made a play that kept his team's chances alive. It's little things like that that add character to a team and for a squad that has a never say die attitude, only adds to what the program has been in Brooklyn.

New Jersey debut

Today is also the debut of the Nets City Edition jerseys —the Bed-Stuy number. The Nets have dressed the Barclays Center court in coogi for the occasion.

From the Vault

Went to see Terminator: Dark Fate last week (I liked it and would recommend it), so with that in mind, let's take it all the way back to 1984

More reading: Celticsblog

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