BOSTON — Jaylen Brown attacked the basket from the left wing, where he blew past a trailing Terance Mann. With a defender in his pocket, Brown’s left forearm flailed behind him, connecting with Mann’s face for his fifth foul. After a coach’s challenge confirmed the call, Brown was taken out of the game with 5:52 to play in the third quarter.
With Boston trailing by three points, the pressing inquiry was whether it could stay within striking distance with its star player on the bench.
It appeared soon after Brown’s foul that the Celtics could not muster enough production to keep up with a two-win Nets team. They were outscored 16-4 with Brown on the bench, a small part of allowing 30 third-quarter points.
Despite slightly closing the gap when Brown checked back into the game with 7:47 to play, his absence proved too much for the Celtics to overcome in what became a 113-105 loss to the Nets. Boston fell to 8-8 on the season while Brooklyn improved to 3-12.
Nic Claxton led Brooklyn with his first NBA triple-double, posting 18 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 12 assists. He was aided by an impressive offensive performance from Michael Porter Jr., who scored 33 points on an efficient 13-of-21 mark from the field while grabbing eight rebounds.
Fouls plagued the Celtics, committing 25 fouls in the contest. It led to 21 free throws for the Nets, who made 14 of their attempts. Brown was the only Boston player to attempt three or more free throws, hitting 7-of-9 attempts while his team was 10-of-14 overall.
Rebounding was even between both sides, as the Celtics lost the differential by only three boards. They managed to even outscore the Nets in second-chance points (15-13) and paint points (52-44).
Anfernee Simons, who replaced Brown when he picked up his fifth foul, scored 23 points off the bench while hitting 10 of his 16 attempts. Payton Pritchard started the game hot, hitting three of his four 3-pointers for nine points in the opening quarter. But he quickly cooled off, finishing with 13 points on 3-of-9 shooting from deep. Neemias Queta scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, five of which were offensive boards.