Ben Simmons #10 of the Brooklyn Nets and Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics battle for the ball during their game at Barclays Center on January 12, 2023 in New York City. Al Bello/Getty Images/AFP
Jayson Tatum collected 20 points, 11 rebounds and five assists as the Boston Celtics pulled away down the stretch for a 109-98 victory over the Brooklyn Nets Thursday night in New York.
The league-best Celtics won their fifth straight and their ninth in 11 games while playing without Jaylen Brown.
Brown sat out with a strained right adductor and coach Joe Mazzulla said he could miss a week or two.
Without Brown, the Celtics still had enough despite Tatum missing 15 of 22 shots.
Marcus Smart returned from a brief absence due to a knee injury and contributed 16 points and 10 assists. Reserve Malcolm Brogdon added 16 points while Derrick White added 15 as the Celtics shot 47.7 percent and began surging ahead while Tatum rested early in the fourth.
“We get out and run, it’s hard for people to stop it,” Smart said. “We were able to get back in transition on the defensive end and set our defense.”
“We played against a really good team,” Smart said. “Obviously, they were depleted as well, but, you know, that’s still a good team over there with great players. It was just coming in and holding our own and just trying to make everything as tough as possible for them.”
Celtics coach Joe Mazulla said before the game he didn’t know how long Brown would be out, but hoped it would be not more than a couple of weeks.
“Keep going,” Smart said of what the Celtics would have to do in the meantime. “Next man up.”
Jayson Tatum "Everybody has to sacrifice to be on a great team… No individual stat or accolade can measure up to being on a winning team that's having fun" pic.twitter.com/pf5QYHMfVl
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) January 13, 2023
The Nets played their first game without Kevin Durant, who is out at least two weeks with a sprained right knee, and they struggled to find consistent offense without their star. Last season Durant missed 21 games with a sprained left knee and the Nets lost 16 of those contests.
Kyrie Irving led Brooklyn with 24 points and reserve T.J. Warren added 20. Joe Harris started for Durant and contributed 18 but the Nets shot 6 of 19 in the fourth and 45.2 percent for the game as they lost for the second time in their past 16 games.
Harris scored 10 points as the Nets shot 54.2 percent and held a 31-29 lead through the opening quarter. Brooklyn took a 52-45 lead on a basket by Warren, but the Celtics ended the half with a 15-5 run over the final 3:09 for a 60-57 lead by halftime.
A competitive third quarter ended with the Celtics holding an 84-82 lead on Payton Pritchard’s layup with 4.2 seconds left.
Consecutive hoops by Pritchard and a basket by Brogdon opened a 92-84 lead with 9:44 remaining. Smart’s 12-footer gave Boston its first double-digit lead at 94-84 with 7:36 left.
Tatum converted a three-point play for a 104-91 edge with 2:43 remaining.
Irving’s layup cut it to 104-96 with 1:37 remaining but White drained a 3-pointer on the next possession to ice it.