Celtics at Nets final score: Joe Johnson leads Brooklyn to 114-98 win
By Hayden Kane
The Brooklyn Nets are 36-31 on the season after defeating the Boston Celtics on Friday night. In the context of a meek Eastern Conference, that makes them a borderline juggernaut.
Joe Johnson led the way on this night with an efficient showing from the floor as the Nets defeated the Celtics 114-98. He shot 10-16 and 6-8 from three-point land to score 27 points. Mason Plumlee, able to recover from his alma mater’s loss to the Mercer Bears, was next on the list of Brooklyn scorers with 18 points in 21 minutes.
Avery Bradley filled up the stat sheet for the otherwise overwhelmed Celtics, scoring 28 points. Rajon Rondo chipped in 12 points and 12 assists in 36 minutes of action.
In the end this game jives with the current direction of both teams. The Celtics (23-46) are terrible by design in Brad Stevens’s first season at the helm, looking ahead with big eyes to all of their future options with their stockpile of draft picks. The Nets are trying to build momentum for the playoffs, having now gone 9-2 in the month of March.
If the season ended today the Nets would the 5th seed in the East, matching up with the Chicago Bulls in round one. Goodness knows they would love to pass Chicago and claim that 4th seed to make that series or a possible showdown with the Toronto Raptors go through the Barclays Center.
The Celtics take the floor next on Wednesday against the Raptors. The Nets will be back in action Sunday against the Dallas Mavericks.