Player grades: Mikal Bridges drops 10 as Nets lose to Celtics 136-86
The Brooklyn Nets visited the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Wednesday for the second night of a back-to-back and lost 136-86.
For the Nets, Trendon Watford had 15 points and two rebounds off the bench while Mikal Bridges had 10 points and four assists. Keon Johnson had nine points off the bench and Day’Ron Sharpe had seven points.
For the Celtics, Payton Pritchard had 28 points and three assists while Derrick White had 27 points and five rebounds. Jayson Tatum had 20 points and Kristaps Porzingis had 15 points.
In the first half, this game showed that it was going to be one of those contests where it would come down to the wire as the Celtics took control of this game from the beginning. Boston blitzed Brooklyn from the opening tip and did not look back as Derrick White and Jayson Tatum led the charge for a Celtics team that was looking to end this game early.
In the second half, it was more of the same as the Nets lacked the necessary effort that they showed on Tuesday to make a comeback. For whatever reason, Brooklyn looked out of it ever since the first quarter ended and it was arguably the worst loss of this season for the Nets.
Here are your Nets player grades for Wednesday’s loss:
Dennis Schröder: D
Schröder did not have a good offensive outing in this one as he couldn’t get much to fall from anywhere on the floor, much like the rest of his teammates. Schröder had some decent looks within the flow of Brooklyn’s offense, but for some reason, he wasn’t able to take advantage of the Celtics’ drop coverage in the pick-and-roll. Schröder did a good job of rebounding the basketball, but other than that, his impact on this game was minimal.
Cam Thomas: D
Thomas had one of his worst offensive games of the season in this one as he wasn’t able to get anything to fall. He had some good looks from the mid-range and from three-point land, but his rhythm and flow looked off the entire game. Similar to Tuesday, Boston paid a lot of attention to Thomas as he was navigating his way through the pick-and-rolls, but he wasn’t able to find much daylight out of those actions. His night ended early thanks to how soon this game became out of reach for the Nets.
Mikal Bridges: D
Bridges did not have a good shooting game as he missed some shots that he normally makes. He could not get anything going on the offensive end and had trouble shooting the ball from anywhere on the floor, especially at the rim. To his credit, Bridges did a good job rebounding and passing the ball, but he did not have much of an impact anywhere else for the Nets.
Dorian Finney-Smith: D
Finney-Smith did not have a good game on either end of the floor as he was unable to get much going. He wasn’t able to get much going offensively as he looked to be out-of-sync for the entire game, especially when he had to put the ball on the floor after being run off the three-point line. Aside from that, Finney-Smith did not do much else for the Nets in this one.
Nic Claxton: C-
Claxton didn’t have his worst game of the season, but he has more impactful games for the Nets this season. Claxton was efficient around the rim when he did get the ball, but he did not get too many looks because of how much the Celtics were dropping off into the paint to defend the rim. He did a good job of rebounding the basketball and had some nice passes, but this game was underwhelming from him in context of this game.
Cam Johnson: D
Johnson returned to the Nets lineup for the first time in a few games after missing time with his left adductor strain, but it looks like the rest did not do him too well. He wasn’t able to get anything going with his shot, especially from three-point range. Johnson did a decent job of rebounding, but that was about the extent of his impact.
Day'Ron Sharpe: C-
Sharpe was actually one of the players who had a decent game on both ends of the floor as he made both of his shots. Sharpe is one of those players that can provide a spark off the bench, but this game was too far gone for any of that to matter. He did a good job of rebounding the basketball, but that was about as much as he could do.
Dennis Smith Jr.: D
Smith had a decent offensive game in this one as he had some nice drives to the rim, but ultimately wasn’t able to help the team from the perimeter. It’s no secret that Smith is not the most effective three-point shooter, but this game showed how he stalls Brooklyn’s offense when the ball swings to him and he isn’t able to hit the shot or even take the shot. Smith did a good job passing the ball, but his impact was minimal in this one as well.
