The Brooklyn Nets (22-45) had a disappointing road trip that saw them drop games that they could’ve won as they’re trying to have a chance at the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. With the Boston Celtics (49-19) coming to town on the second night of a back-to-back, Brooklyn had an opportunity to get a win over one of the best teams in the NBA.
Unfortunately, the Nets were not able to achieve their desired result as they lost to the Celtics 115-113 in which Brooklyn was able to come back from a 21-point deficit to make the game interesting in the end. Cam Johnson did his part to will his team to victory as he poured in 23 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists while Keon Johnson filled in admirably for Cam Thomas by dropping 21 points and six rebounds.
The reason why Brooklyn had a shot of winning the game is because of them limiting Jayson Tatum to just 20 points on 8-of-19 shooting from the field over the course of the game, giving them some leeway towards the winning the game. Here are three Nets takeaways from Saturday’s loss to the Celtics:
Keon Johnson
Johnson was one of the standouts for the Nets in a game where Boston appeared to run away with things early in the first half before Brooklyn made their comeback from a 21-point deficit slowly, but surely. Johnson was a big reason for the comeback as he stepped up in the absence of Cam Thomas, who is expected to miss the rest of this season with his left hamstring strain.
Johnson has always been one of the players on the Nets that could affect the game with his athleticism and make plays out of just how much effort he gives on every single play. Add to that his improved shooting from three-point land and you get a player in Johnson who has grown over the course of this season into a guy who is definitely an NBA player, possibly one who sticks around for this rebuild.
Here’s what head coach Jordi Fernandez had to say about how his team performed against the Celtics:
“We all want to win, right? The reality is, when you lose, you’re not happy. But, I can tell these guys that I’m extremely proud of them with the way we played. There’s no moral victories here. But, if that’s going to be our identity, a lot of good things are going to happen. These guys work every day.”
Cam Johnson
Johnson could seemingly make this section after every game given the way that he has played this season, the best of his career. Johnson has been one of the best players on the Nets since this season began, but he took things to a new level with the way that he has improved his game outside of shooting the ball from three-point land to help Brooklyn’s offense be more dangerous.
Against one of the best defenses in the NBA in the Celtics, Johnson put up 23 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists in an all-around great effort to almost help the Nets complete the comeback. Johnson had his fair share of shooting struggles in the early going, but he found his rhythm in the second half as he was finding ways to make Boston pay for running him off the three-point line.
Here’s what Day’Ron Sharpe had to say about guys like Johnson stepping up in the absence of Cam Thomas:
“You look at our team, no matter who’s out, we always have somebody to step up. You never know who, what game is going to be, what guy is going to be. But, no matter whoever name (is) called, they always step in and produce. It don’t matter who we play against, no matter who they got on the court, I just know the 15 guys I got on my team, we ready to go to war.”
Maxwell Lewis
Lewis has not played much for the Nets since coming over from the Los Angeles Lakers earlier in the season in a mid-season trade, mostly due to injury, but also due to the overall depth on the roster. With how well players like Cam Johnson, Ziaire Williams, and Noah Clowney have been playing at the forward spots, there hasn’t bee much playing time for Lewis outside of blowouts.
What made his performance against the Celtics all the more impressive, besides the fact that he was producing against one of the best teams in the league, was the way he provided a spark off the bench. For someone like Lewis to play the way he did with his confidence, that is something that has to be encouraging for Brooklyn to see as this season comes to an end.
Here’s what Lewis had to say about his outing against Boston:
“I was just thinking catch-and-shoot. Be ready. I’m so used to hesitating and putting the ball on the ground, just doing too much. I felt like just tonight, it was short and simple. I feel like I belong in the league so it felt good to me. I just feel normal.”
