When it was all over none other than political stats guru Nate Silver tweeted that this was the “Biggest win in the history of the Brooklyn Nets.” Of course, statistically it had a 20% chance of that (this is only win five in Brooklyn) and as the others were against Toronto, Cleveland and Orlando twice there wasn’t a lot of competition.
Still, this is a quality win for Brooklyn — this was tied 87-87 with three minutes to and down the stretch it was the Nets that knocked down the shots, made their free throws and came away with a 102-97 win.
What was most evident in this game however is that Boston really needs Rajon Rondo for their offense to be smooth. Out with a sprained ankle suffered Wednesday night — and with no timetable for his return — this was a reminder of how central Rondo is to getting everything flowing for Boston. Especially in the final minutes, when Boston struggled to get good looks without Rondo creating them.
They had their moments — a 20-2 run in the third quarter that gave Boston a lead for one. Paul Pierce was putting up points both working off the ball and creating some shots, he finished with 22 on the night.
But there was no flow without Rondo. It was fits and starts.
Of course, that doesn’t really explain how Brooklyn abused Boston on the boards — the Nets had 15 offensive rebounds in the first half, and with the game in doubt late Brook Lopez came up with an offensive board and putback that kept the Celtics at arms length.
With the game tied 87-87 and three minutes left Avery Johnson pulled out the old Mike Wooodson playbook and seemed to run a lot of iso-Joe for Joe Johnson — but it worked. He created his own shot for a 10-footer, he hit a contested 17 footer over Paul Pierce, and when he missed the 18-foot fadeaway Lopez was there to clean it up.
Boston’s chances faded when down three inside a minute Pierce got Reggie Evans switched on him off a pick, backed up, blew by him and got fouled trying to score. He just missed making it an and-one as it rolled off the rim. Then Pierce missed both free throws.
And that was it, even though Avery Johnson started the end of game fouling routine oddly early and up four. It worked, it was just odd.
Williams and Lopez each finished with 24 for the Nets, Joe Johnson 19, Kris Humphries had 10 points and 13 boards. Leandro Barbosa had 17 points on just 11 shots starting for Rondo, but he had just two assists.
With the win the Nets are 5-2 and on a four-game winning streak, while the Celtics drop to 5-4 in a season where they are clearly still trying to find a rhythm.
And if this game was any indication, they are not going to find it until Rondo gets back.
