Newark, N.J.—The preseason had started, and Nets guard Courtney Lee couldn't get in a game.

First, it was foot inflammation holding him out against the Knicks. Then an ankle sprain set him aside Friday in Philadelphia. Lee finally played Sunday off the bench, but without the other half of the Nets' probable backcourt combination - Devin Harris sat out after tweaking his ankle during the Sixers game.

Tuesday's preseason game at the Prudential Center marked the first time Lee and Harris stepped oncourt at the same time, and the early stages of the Nets' 91-88 loss to the Celtics were packed with potential.

Harris and Lee started alongside Chris Douglas-Roberts, who slid to small forward after three starts at shooting guard, and the trio combined for 33 points as the Nets built a 60-47 halftime lead.

"In the first and second quarter, with guys running the break, getting ahead, passing ahead, finishing at the rim, I thought we had good pace," Harris said. "CDR and Courtney, I thought those guys played tremendous, even in the second half. And that’s what’s encouraging, to see our wings playing that well. It allows me to be a little more free, get the ball to those guys and take a little pressure off me and Brook (Lopez)."

But when the halftime buzzer sounded, Harris never re-entered the game, relegated to the bench with a strained right groin that left Lee and Douglas-Roberts to close it out alone. Despite the duo scoring 16 second-half points, the rest of the team combined for 12, allowing the Celtics to cut down a Nets lead that had grown as high as 14. The lead changed for the final time when Celtics guard Eddie House hit a go-ahead jumper with 32.2 seconds remaining.

The next play proved crucial, as the Nets went to Lee out of a timeout, trailing 89-88. Curling off a screen, the guard blew by Eddie House on a right-side drive, tossing up a soft runner as he closed in on the basket. But help-side defense arrived in the form of Glen Davis, who swatted the shot hard out-of-bounds. Douglas-Roberts committed an offensive foul to turn the ball back to Boston. Point guard Rajon Rondo missed the second of two free throws, but Davis snagged the offensive board, hit one of two himself, and the game ended after Lee missed a potentially game-tying three in the waning seconds.

"(Davis) made a great play," Lee said. "I didn’t know he could get up that high with his big self, ha. He’s a good friend of mine, and after the game he was taking about it, how he blocked my shot and got the free-throw rebound. I was like, 'You got the plays of the game.' He surprised me. I got past Eddie, and thought I floated it high enough to kiss it off the backboard, but he got it."

The blocked shot was a rare sour moment in a good game for the second-year guard, who led all scorers with 21 points, shooting 7-of-12 from the field while hitting 2-of-3 from three. He added four rebounds, two steals and two assists, but rust showed in the form of three missed free-throws (5-of-8 total) and five turnovers. Wingmate Douglas-Roberts hit his first five shots, finishing 7-of-9 as he scored 19 points - his fourth double-digit outing in as many games.

Harris had posted nine points, four rebounds and four assists before exiting, but his third injury of the preseason (following a "tweak" of each ankle) kept the momentum from rolling over into the second half. He said postgame that the strained groin wasn't the result of a single play, that he'll be re-evaluated tomorrow and that he hopes to play by the weekend.

"I’d rather have (the injuries) now than past October 28th," Harris said. "We’ve got ample time still left over to get me reacquainted with the guys (on the court). I’m not really frustrated at this point. It’s a little nagging, but I’d rather have it now."

<< Back to All Access News