One night after a disappointing showing against the Miami Heat, the Celtics responded with an improved performance.
They dominated the shorthanded Brooklyn Nets, 149-115, Wednesday night at Disney World to improve to 2-2 since the NBA restarted the season last week.
The Celtics, who registered a season high for points in the blowout win, are now halfway through their eight regular-season games and will face the Toronto Raptors Friday at 9 p.m.
A 20-1 run over a [...]
One night after a disappointing showing against the Miami Heat, the Celtics responded with an improved performance.
They dominated the shorthanded Brooklyn Nets, 149-115, Wednesday night at Disney World to improve to 2-2 since the NBA restarted the season last week.
The Celtics, who registered a season high for points in the blowout win, are now halfway through their eight regular-season games and will face the Toronto Raptors Friday at 9 p.m.
A 20-1 run over a span of 3:58 beginning at the end of the first quarter and carrying into the first 1:44 of the second quarter turned the game in the Celtics’ favor. The lead never went below 17 points in the second half.
The Celtics had little trouble even though Kemba Walker (knee) was given the night off and Jayson Tatum played just six first-half minutes after picking up three fouls in the first quarter.
Jaylen Brown had 21 points, hitting five 3-pointers, to lead the Celtics while Tatum had a productive third quarter to finish with 19 and also made five 3-pointers.
Gordon Hayward scored 18 points despite missing 10 of 15 shots and had seven rebounds.
Robert Williams had one of his best games since entering the NBA last season, making all seven shots from the field and going 4 for 4 from the line to score 18 points with five rebounds.
Brad Wanamaker scored 13 points off the bench, Marcus Smart, starting in place of Walker, had 12 points, six assists and five rebounds while Daniel Theis added 10 points and six rebounds.
All 13 players scored for the Celtics, who made 20 of 39 shots from 3-point range and shot 57 percent overall.
The Celtics had a 71-52 lead at halftime, compiling their second-highest point total in a first half this season.
They made 8 of 17 shots from 3-point range and hit 21 foul shots in the opening 24 minutes.
Brown (13) and Hayward (12) led the offense in the half while the bench contributed 29 points. Enes Kanter, Robert Williams and Brad Wanamaker had seven points apiece while Romeo Langford had four points and was solid on defense.
The Nets were in front, 24-23, with less than three minutes to go in the first quarter when the Celtics seized control. They went on a 20-1 run over a span of 3:58 and wound up with a 43-25 advantage just 1:44 into the second quarter.
Williams got the spree going late in the first quarter with five straight points, including a three-point play and an alley-oop from Marcus Smart. The Celtics closed the half on an 11-1 run over 2:14 and had a 34-25 edge.
Hayward started the second quarter with seven straight points, hitting two foul shots, a 3-pointer and an 18-footer, and Wanamaker added a basket for the 18-point lead.
The Celtics’ lead never went below double digits in the final three quarters and their biggest edge in the second quarter was 58-37 midway through.
The Celtics scored 11 points off 13 Nets’ turnovers in the half.
The lead reached 30 points in the third quarter when Tatum scored 14 of his points.
jfenton@enterprisenews.com
On Twitter at @JFenton_ent.