Down 98-95 with nine seconds to play, the Brooklyn Nets took their shot. Two, in fact.
Brook Lopez and Quincy Acy had the game-tying three in their hands, but the ball didn’t drop and the Nets had to settle for a hard-fought 98-95 loss on Friday night.
“I was confident in it, it felt good and I thought it was going in,” Lopez, who scored a team-high 23 points, said of the missed three. “We fought till literally the very end. We were right there.”
The Nets struggled offensively through the first three quarters, but did enough defensively to stay in the game and enter the fourth down six points, 71-65. They shot 50% in the final period, slugging it out with the Celtics down the stretch, setting up the dramatic finish.
Randy Foye (14 points) tied the game at 80 with a three while Acy (10p/8r) tied it at 85, but Jae Crowder (game-high 24 points) rattled off six straight to put Boston up 91-85. The six-point gap turned out to be enough separation for the Celtics, despite Jeremy Lin (10 points) and Foye bringing the Nets within two points twice in the last 16.5 seconds.
“I thought we did a good job executing [down the stretch],” Coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Credit to them, they hit some big shots down at the end. Al [Horford] hits that jab three and then Crowder hits two big ones.”
Before the game, Atkinson said he wanted to see different combinations in the Nets final 15 games. With Trevor Booker (leg soreness), Sean Kilpatrick (hamstring) and Joe Harris (shoulder) out, Atkinson got an extended look at Andrew Nicholson (17 minutes) and KJ McDaniels (19 minutes), who each played their most minutes as a Net since being acquired at the trade deadline.
“We have to,” Atkinson said. “For our future, for our development… to get a real grip on our players going into the summer we have to see these guys and I thought they did a good job, both of them.”
Friday was Nicholson’s most productive game as a Net, scoring 11 points, while McDaniels had six points and four rebounds.
“Andrew was really surprising,” Atkinson continued. “He hit some threes, I love the way he drove it and missed a couple of bunnies, but his defense was really good, so you discover something on a night like tonight.”
Nicholson was glad to get the extended look.
“I felt happy to get out there and play with the guys and do good things and it’s going to translate to good stuff for the next game,” Nicholson said.
The Nets are back in action on Sunday afternoon when they take on the Dallas Mavericks. Tipoff is at noon.