Joe Harris #12 of the Brooklyn Nets reacts after making a three-point basket during the second half against the Boston Celtics at Barclays Center on April 23, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Sarah Stier/Getty Images/AFP
Joe Harris scored 20 points as the Brooklyn Nets survived a rough shooting night by Kyrie Irving and withstood a late charge by the visiting Boston Celtics in a 109-104 victory Friday night in New York.
The Nets (40-20) moved a half-game ahead of the idle Philadelphia 76ers into the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia visits Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon.
Brooklyn led for the final 33:56 and survived despite getting outscored 27-15 in the final 10-plus minutes and controlling the pace with a whopping 32-3 margin on fast-break points overall.
Jeff Green added 19 for the Nets, who shot 43 percent and withstood Irving missing 15 of 19 shots. Despite his rough shooting night, Irving nearly posted a triple-double (15 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds).
Efficient night off the bench for @BruceBrown11 to spark the @BrooklynNets!
15 PTS (7-8 FGM) | 8 REB pic.twitter.com/RzJogT1z3w
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2021
Bruce Brown chipped in 15 points, Blake Griffin contributed 13 and DeAndre Jordan grabbed 11 rebounds for Brooklyn.
Jayson Tatum led all scorers with 38 points after going 3 of 17 from the field in each of his previous two games. Rookie Payton Pritchard hit six 3-pointers en route to added 22 points, while Marcus Smart finished with 19 as Boston shot 40.4 percent and hit 17 of 42 from long range.
The Nets escaped Boston while playing without Kevin Durant (right thigh contusion), who sat out his third straight game. He was listed as questionable but ruled out a few hours before the opening tip and could play Sunday against the visiting Phoenix Suns.
Whole squad made sure we got this one.
📼 HIGHLIGHTS 📼 pic.twitter.com/DI6PDCRJ6R
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) April 24, 2021
Boston (32-28) lost for only the third time in its past 12 games and dropped one game behind the Atlanta Hawks. The Celtics were without Jaylen Brown (sore left shoulder) and also held out Kemba Walker on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Nets held a 94-77 on a hook shot by Mike James with 10:09 remaining, but Boston stormed back, getting within 98-95 on Tatum’s 3-pointer with 3:32 left. A three-point play by Tatum made it 103-98 with 2:01 left
Two free throws by Landry Shamet made it 105-99 left with 26 seconds left, and Tatum converted a putback but missed the free throw with 6.4 seconds left after the Celtics grabbed three offensive rebounds.
After two free throws by Griffin made it a six-point game with five seconds left, Pritchard hit another 3-pointer with 3.1 ticks left to make it 107-104, but Irving finally secured the win at the line in the final seconds.