Brook Lopez Sets Brooklyn Nets’ Franchise Scoring Record in Loss to Celtics

The Brooklyn Nets traveled to take on the Boston Celtics in their second-to-last game of the season and fell just short of an incredible comeback.

With the season’s end around the corner, Kenny Atkinson‘s been shuffling the lineups to get a solid look at everyone. This game was no different. In the first quarter alone, 11 guys suited up. Unfortunately, it didn’t help the offense, nor the defense, and Brooklyn surrendered 28 points while shooting 18 percent from the field and getting 15 for themselves.

It was more of the same in the second and, even though Brooklyn was playing harder, the execution was still lacking, and the Celtics fired on all cylinders. Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley were doing their thing, but all of the role players chipped in, and it was too much for the Nets to handle. Jeremy Lin and Brook Lopez were almost non-existent in the first half, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Caris LeVert also struggled to find their rhythm. The four were a combined 10-of-30 during the first 24 minutes, and that’s where the Brooklyn Nets’ struggles were rooted.

Additionally, the Celtics pounded the Nets on the glass (32 to 23), shredded their defense (17 assists on 23 field goals) and kept their offense disjointed (nine turnovers forced).

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Fortunes began to reverse as the third quarter progressed — on offense, at least. The Nets were ultra-aggressive, and Boston had issues keeping them off the foul line. By the end of the frame, Brooklyn had 30 free throw attempts to Boston’s 12, and they took a 37-32 edge to cut the lead down to 13.

The Nets cleaned up their act on the glass and evened the rebounding margin at 39 all. Hollis-Jefferson, LeVert, Lopez and Lin all benefitted from more cohesive play and cracked double-digits in the scoring column.

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Brooklyn continued battling all throughout the fourth and was able to get the lead down to seven midway through the period. En route to that, Lopez became the Nets’ all-time leading scorer with 4:01 left, after he bucketed a turnaround jumper.

Following that monumental moment, the Nets couldn’t recover. Boston started getting to the line more and more and kept their foot on the gas despite seeing their 27-point lead get trimmed down to nine.

Thomas was the game’s leading scorer with 27. Lin and Lopez had 26 and 25, respectively, to lead the Netsm and Hollis-Jefferson (17), LeVert (12) and Justin Hamilton (11) were the other three double-digit scorers.

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The final game of the 2016-17 season is Wednesday, April 12 against the Chicago Bulls at 8 p.m. ET.