It’s a quick turnaround for Brooklyn and Boston. After Wednesday night’s game on the road at TD Garden, the Nets host the Celtics Friday at Barclays Center at noon.
“I love these because you could look at the tape. It’s almost like a mini playoff,” said Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson. “I wish we had a practice. You could look at tape, make adjustments, see where you can make some changes. I always like these type of mini-series.”
The Nets dropped Wednesday’s game 121-110, snapping a four-game winning streak. Up by six at halftime, the Nets cut a 12-point Boston fourth-quarter lead to three points with just over five minutes to go before the Celtics close it out.
Spencer Dinwiddie appreciates the rapid return engagement.
“Of course,” said Dinwiddie. “Anytime you lose you want to be able to play the same team and get a win. That’s anything in life. Somebody beats you, you want to go beat ‘em back.”
LOOKING FOR A REBOUNDING REBOUND
With Jarrett Allen averaging 10.3 rebounds per game and DeAndre Jordan averaging 9.1, the Nets have been among the Nets leading rebounding teams throughout the season. Going into Friday’s game they’re tied for eighth in rebounds per game (46.6) and rank 12th in rebound percentage (50.2).
Coincidentally, the team the Nets are tied with in rebounding is Boston, which had its way on the boards Wednesday, outrebounding the Nets 55-38 and grabbing 19 rebounds. Allen had 14 rebounds — his sixth double-digit rebounding game in the last eight — but the Nets were without Jordan for the second straight game due to ankle soreness.
“Yeah, we missed DeAndre, but I always say it’s rebound by committee and I think we’ve done a decent job this year,” said Kenny Atkinson. “I think we’re middle of the pack. It was just a bad night. You’ve got to give them credit. They got after it. They had more energy on the boards. That’s something we’ve gotta fix. It’s a shame because I thought — obviously Kemba (Walker) had a great game — but otherwise our defense was good enough. We just couldn’t corral the boards.”
ENTER NWABA
With the Nets playing for the third time in four nights, and Kenny Atkinson still working on combinations with Kyrie Irving, Caris LeVert and DeAndre Jordan sidelined, Brooklyn went 10 deep against Boston on Wednesday, creating an opportunity for guard David Nwaba.
Nwaba had not played in four of Brooklyn’s six previous games, playing a total of nine minutes in the other two. Against the Celtics, he played a season-high 19 minutes, bringing a defensive presence to a second unit that also included another physical guard, Iman Shumpert.
“I think we need his physicality against a team like this,” said Kenny Atkinson. “He’s strong and he presents a physical, physical presence that I felt like we needed. He played very well. I was really happy with him.”
Nwaba also scored a season-high 10 points, shooting 4-for-5 overall and 2-for-3 from 3-point range. The Nets got mixed results from the second unit against Boston. The group’s effort early in the second quarter helped power Brooklyn to a 40-point quarter and 63-57 halftime lead, but they couldn’t replicate it in the second half when the Celtics powered their way to a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
“It’s a long season,” said Kenny Atkinson. “Listen, I think Theo (Pinson) and (Dzanan) Musa, those guys have done a good job holding the fort tonight. They took advantage of us a little bit when he was on the bench. I’m gonna stick with those guys. You’ve gotta stick with them through the good times and the bad times. They helped us win the Cleveland game. It’s one game. They’ll continue to be in the rotation.”
ABOUT THE CELTICS
The Celtics beat the Nets 121-110 in the first meeting of the season Wednesday to improve to 13-4, the Eastern Conference’s second-best record. Kemba Walker had 39 points, shooting 6-for-10 from 3-point range, and Jaylen Brown had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics, who put all five starters in double figures.
Boston has the league’s sixth-ranked net rating (6.7) and is fifth in defensive rating (103.0) and sixth in defensive effective field goal percentage (49.9).
Walker leads Boston with 22.3 points per game plus 4.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 40.4 percent from 3-point range. Jayson Tatum averages 20.2 points and 7.1 rebounds and Jaylen Brown averages 19.4 points and 7.4 rebounds.