NEW YORK (AP) – No Kevin Durant on one side, no Jaylen Brown on the other.
When the fourth quarter arrived, Kyrie Irving seemed to take it upon himself to pick up the missing offense for the Nets.
The Celtics just relied on the balance and defence that have made them the top team in the NBA.
Jayson Tatum had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Boston pulled away to beat Brooklyn 109-98 on Thursday night in the Nets’ first game since losing Durant to a knee injury.
Marcus Smart added 16 points and 10 assists for the Celtics. Malcolm Brogdon also scored 16 points, teaming with fellow backup guard Payton Pritchard to lead the decisive spurt early in the fourth that sent the Celtics to their fifth straight victory.
Derrick White, starting for Brown, scored 15 points, and Boston picked up the pace with the quickness Pritchard said the backups possess.
Irving scored 24 points for the Nets, who were right with the Celtics until getting outscored 12-2 to open the fourth. TJ Warren added 20 and Joe Harris, starting for Durant, had 18.
Irving was three for 10 in the fourth, taking more than half the team’s shots after coach Jacque Vaughn said he didn’t want the star guard feeling he needed to do more in Durant’s absence.
The Nets, who will be without Durant for at least two weeks after he sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee last Sunday, had won 18 of their previous 20 games and reached the midpoint of their schedule at 27-14.