Kemba Walker returns with 39 points, Celtics beat Brooklyn 121-110

Under the cover of countless “Kyrie sucks,” and “Where Is Kyrie?” chants, someone else returned from injury with a flair last night.

Kemba Walker came back from a five-day, neck-related absence to record his most prolific night as a Celtic with 39 points in the Celtics’ 121-110 win over a Brooklyn team lacking you-know-who.

After some initial rustiness Walker stepped into a high level flow, shooting 6-for-10 from downtown.

Garrett Temple had just hit his sixth 3-pointer of the night, cutting the Celtics lead to 104-101, when Walker stepped in with his sixth, triggering an 8-1 run for a 112-102 lead that also included Brad Wanamaker’s transition drive for a three-point play and, with 3:42 left, Walker’s 15-footer.

Though the Nets responded with a Spencer Dinwiddie three-point play and a Joe Harris 3-pointer, the Celtics were scoring at their best pace of the night.

Jayson Tatum had dunked over Harris prior to the latter’s 3-pointer, and the Celtics came back with a Jaylen Brown 3-pointer, followed by another Walker mid-range jumper and, with 1:27 left, two free throws for a 121-108 lead.

The Celtics opened some space with a 9-0 run late in the third quarter. And when Garrett Temple hit his fifth 3-pointer of the night, the C’s edge was trimmed to 91-86 for the start of the fourth.

Walker, with 30 points over his first three quarters, had just brought the Celtics back with a 13-point third.

Enes Kanter scored four straight points at the core of an 8-3 quarter-opening run – aided by Brad Stevens’ successful challenge of a foul call on Semi Ojeleye, with Brad Wanamaker scoring on the ensuing possession for the Celtics’ biggest lead of the night at 99-89.

David Nwaba answered with a 3-pointer, and Smart matched him on the next possession, followed by Brad Wanamaker’s steal and transition drive for a 104-92 Celtics lead with 7:52 left.

Kanter’s next potential moment came off a tough offensive board with 7:16 left, only to miss both ensuing free throws. Jarrett Allen answered, but failed to convert the three-point play, leaving Brooklyn down by eight points.

The Nets center missed two more 35 seconds later, though Joe Harris cut the Celtics lead to 104-98 on the next possession.

The Nets started hot with a 12-for-27 half from downtown, including a 10-trey second quarter, with Garrett Temple burying four of those.

The result was a 63-57 halftime lead by the Nets, who simply kept hitting. Joe Harris hit his third 3-pointer four minutes into the third quarter, this time for a 73-68 lead.

But Walker, who scored 13 points over the first 5:40 of the third quarter, twice tied the score, first on a three-point play and then a 3-pointer at 78-78. The Nets nudged ahead by a point (81-80), and Brown hit from 15 feet for an 82-81 Celtics edge.

The lead changed hands four times in a fiery 2:30 stretch, with the Celtics gaining traction when Brown’s dunk (84-83) triggered a 9-0 run for a 91-83 lead that Temple cut to 91-86 from downtown at the end of the quarter.

After some early back-and-forth offense, the Celtics started to get stops while building their early lead, initially with a 9-1 run for an 18-14 lead on a Walker free throw.

Brown polished off an eight-point first by dunking off the break, followed by an Ojeleye trey for a 30-23 lead.

Theis, with eight points and four boards in the first, was also off to a hot start.

The Nets, though, hit four 3-pointers over the first 3:18 of the second – three of them from Garrett Temple – and forced a Celtics timeout when David Nwaba dunked for a 37-37 tie.

Temple’s floater capped a 10-0 Nets run for a brief 39-37 lead. Though Walker heated up, twice tying the score on 3-pointers, the Nets buried five more 3-pointers over the next six minutes, including Temple’s fourth of the quarter.

Joe Harris’ bomb gave the Nets a 60-51 lead on the tail end of an 8-0 run, which Brown snuffed with a corner three. Walker followed with his third trey, cutting the Nets lead to 60-57, only for Spencer Dinwiddie to hit Brooklyn’s 12th 3-pointer for a 63-57 halftime lead.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2Orevxn