Adam Hunger/Reuters
Celtics Kevin Garnett, right, was separated by teammates and officials from Nets Gerald Wallace, left, in the fourth quarter on Tuesday.
It took several years of suffering, rebuilding and spending for the Nets to earn their place on the N.B.A.’s vaunted Christmas slate of games. Coach Avery Johnson called it an honor, for whatever inconveniences may come along with it, and the Nets embraced their moment in the national spotlight.
It took fewer than 24 minutes of basketball for that honor to become a burden, and not much longer to become an outright humiliation.
The Nets were bullied on their Barclays Center home court by the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, absorbing a 93-76 rout that drained whatever Christmas cheer they might have had. The loss was the Nets’ third in four games and ninth in 12 games in Deember.
Rajon Rondo led the Celtics with 19 points and thoroughly outplayed Deron Williams, who had 10 points and 6 assists and never really put his mark on the game. Joe Johnson had only 12 points, going 4 of 14 from the field. Brook Lopez and Gerald Wallace led the Nets, each with 15 points.
The Nets could not keep the Celtics out of the paint, keep their passes on target or find any path to the basket for most of the day.
Making Wallace the starting power forward was supposed to spark the Nets’ offense, but they shot 40.6 percent from the field and sabotaged themselves with 20 turnovers (leading to 25 points for the Celtics).
The new, smaller lineup did not last long Tuesday. After getting bullied inside in the first half, the Nets turned to Reggie Evans to start at power forward in the third quarter, with Wallace back at small forward.
Nearly a month after these teams scuffled in Boston, resulting in technical fouls and a two-game suspension for Rondo, tempers flared again.
This time, it was Wallace and Kevin Garnett, who tangled early in the fourth quarter, with the Celtics leading by 77-60. After leaping for an offensive rebound, Wallace landed awkwardly and grabbed Garnett’s jersey to stabilize himself. Garnett grabbed Wallace’s wrist and held it, while Wallace appeared to bark, “Let go of me.” Garnett barked back, and Andray Blatche leaped into the fray, triggering whistles and a lot of angry words.
No punches were thrown, and the incident ended peacefully. Garnett and Wallace were called for double-technical fouls.
Moments later, Jared Sullinger was called for a flagrant foul-1, for collaring Wallace on a fast-break attempt.
Those were the last real moments of tension in the game, which had long since slipped from the Nets’ grasp.
Boston took a 15-point lead in the second quarter and cruised for most of the afternoon, pushing the margin to as many as 21 points in the third quarter. By then, most of the life had gone out of the building, aside from a vocal continent of Boston fans, who entertained themselves with a “Let’s Go Celtics” chant late in the game.
Even a late-arriving “Brooklyn” chant in the third quarter sounded weak and sleepy, as if the entire borough had an eggnog hangover.
The Nets rallied briefly, scoring nine straight points in one burst and eventually cutting the deficit to 66-58. But the Celtics responded with a 9-0 run, extending the lead to 77-60.
Wallace, starting in place of Kris Humphries for the second consecutive game, had a rough afternoon. He picked up three early fouls, two on offense, negating a pair of layups.
The Celtics punished the Nets inside in the first half, scoring 30 of their 56 points in the paint, winning the rebounding margin by 24-15 and scoring 11 points on second-chance efforts. Boston took a 56-42 lead at the half, having won the second quarter by 34-18.
For a time, the Nets’ offense flowed freely, orderly, through Lopez in the low post, and everything else seemed to fall into place. Lopez scored nine points in the opening period, the Nets took an early six-point lead.
By the middle of the second quarter, their offense had turned to mush, a blur of forced shots, careless passes and airballs. At one point, Lopez, having been tied up on his drive to the basket, flipped a shot straight into the bottom of the backboard.
Blatche played alongside Lopez for part of the game as Johnson continued to tinker with his new big-man rotation, which now is focused on Lopez, Blatche, Wallace and Reggie Evans.
Whether at forward or center, Blatche turned in one of his worst performances as a Net, mixing poor shot selection with thoughtless fouls and turnovers.
The Nets had a 29-26 lead after a Jerry Stackhouse 3-pointer early in the second quarter before things fell apart. Boston pounced on a series of errors, using a 17-2 run to take control.
So the lineup change had not solved much, and Sunday’s victory over Philadelphia was apparently not the start of a glorious turnaround.
“We’re not a perfect team right now,” Johnson said before tipoff, clearly understating matters. “Now that we’re going with this lineup, we got to work at it. It’s going to take some time.”
REBOUNDS
Kris Humphries, having already lost his starting job, is now dealing with a mild abdominal strain and was placed on the inactive list. Humphries will not make the trip to Milwaukee for Wednesday’s game against the Bucks, either. He will be re-evaluated on Thursday. On Sunday, Coach Avery Johnson replaced Humphries with Gerald Wallace, hoping for a more fluid offense. … Only four Nets had played on Christmas before, led by Keith Bogans, who had played three times. The others: C. .J Watson (twice), Andray Blatche and Wallace. This was Jerry Stackhouse’s first Christmas game, in his 18th season. “That’s why I had to hang around so long,” Stackhouse said.
Celtics 93, Nets 76: Celtics Subdue Nets in Christmas Day Opener in N.B.A. http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/12/26/sports/26nets1/26nets1-articleLarge-v2.jpg
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