Brooklyn Nets: Player grades from win over East heavyweight Celtics

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The Brooklyn Nets improved to 3-2 at home against the Big Five in the Eastern Conference with Monday’s 109-102 win over the Boston Celtics.

The Brooklyn Nets continued to show they’ve learned how to take care of a big lead and take care of business at home, holding off a furious finish Monday night from the Boston Celtics to take a 109-102 victory at Barclays Center.

The win was the fifth in a row at home for the Nets (22-23), who maintained their grip on seventh place in the Eastern Conference, and the ninth in 10 games at Barclays Center after starting the season 3-10 in their own building.

It was also Brooklyn’s 13th straight win in games in which they have led by at least 10 points after beginning the season just 8-8 in those situations and blowing four double-digit leads during their eight-game losing skid in late November and early December.

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The victory over Boston gives the Nets at least one win over every other team in the Atlantic Division. They are now 1-1 against the Celtics and Toronto Raptors and 2-1 against the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers.

That 6-4 divisional record compares to just 1-15 last season and 3-13 in 2016-17.

Against the top five teams in the Eastern Conference, the Nets are now 4-6 this season, including a 3-2 mark at home. Brooklyn is 1-1 against the Celtics and Raptors, 2-1 against Philadelphia, 0-1 against the Milwaukee Bucks and 0-2 against the Indiana Pacers.

Brooklyn is now a game behind the sixth-place Miami Heat (21-20) in the East and a game ahead of the eighth-place Charlotte Hornets (20-23). Behind Charlotte there are the Orlando Magic (19-24) and Detroit Pistons (18-24).

With six players out due to injury, the Nets used a season-low eight players against the Celtics, who were without starting guards Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart due to injury (Irving) and illness (Smart).

Brooklyn shot 43 percent on the night (37-for-86) and managed to hit 13-of-39 (33.3 percent) from 3-point range against a Boston defense that came in holding opponents to 33.2 percent from deep.

The Nets owned the boards, 55-41, and second-chance points, 28-17, and led in points off turnovers 18-9 despite committing five more giveaways (17) than the Celtics (12).

The third quarter told the tale, as the Nets had the highest-scoring quarter of the Brooklyn era, turning a one-point halftime lead into a 24-point bulge at the quarter break.

Here are the player grades from a win that snapped Brooklyn’s string of 10 straight losses to the Celtics.