Cam Thomas and the Nets will try to shrug off last Friday’s overtime loss in Boston when they host the defending NBA champs in Brooklyn Wednesday. AP Photo by Michael Dwyer
Less than a week removed from a heartbreaking overtime loss in Boston, the Brooklyn Nets will try to get a measure of revenge Wednesday night when they host the defending NBA champions at Downtown’s Barclays Center.
Fresh off a 1-2 road trip that began with last Friday’s 108-104 defeat in Beantown, the Nets (5-6) hope to climb back to .500 and build off Monday’s 107-105 victory in New Orleans.
They’ll have to do so against an Atlantic Division-leading Celtics squad that is coming off Tuesday’s 117-116 defeat to visiting Atlanta.
Boston (9-3) was recovering from a 118-112 home loss to Golden State when the Nets showed up at TD Garden last weekend.
Despite getting 31 points from Cam Thomas and 20 from Dennis Schroder, Brooklyn was unable to overcome a 33-point, nine-rebound, six-assist effort from reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Jayson Tatum in the initial meeting.
But it nearly did.
The Nets forced OT on Cam Johnson’s free throws with 7.1 seconds left in regulation before Payton Pritchard had six of Boston’s 14 points in the extra session to foil Brooklyn’s early season upset bid.
A night later, the Nets gave still-unbeaten Cleveland all it could handle before the Cavaliers outscored them, 35-18, over the final 12 minutes to pull out a 105-100 win.
Rookie head coach Jordi Fernández watched his team recover from the back-to-back narrow defeats in The Big Easy as Thomas paced seven Nets in double figures in scoring with 17 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 32 ticks left on the clock.
“Just buying into what Jordi is trying to instill in us, in the culture. Just outworking opponents, being connected, and just playing together as a team,” Thomas said following the tough loss in Boston.
“It was really just embodying what Jordi is preaching.”
Brooklyn…
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