Nets G Jack helped to locker room with sprained right knee

“There were some miscues but we kept fighting”. He went to the locker room briefly in this game, but there’s no need to be anxious here.

“It was a nice win”.

“We had guys open everywhere”, Nets coach Lionel Hollins said. “His competitiveness was why he was in the game so long, and I couldn’t take him out”.

Even on a day when the Nets won a game, they lost. “And we’re thankful for that”.

ABOUT THE NETS (9-23): Lopez is pushing for his second All-Star appearance in the last four seasons, producing five double-doubles in his last six games. The Celtics crowd actually cheered for their one-time rival like he was one of their own before and during the game, and then the team he lost to in the 2008 Finals and beat in the 2010 Finals honored him with a piece of their floor.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens repeated the team’s injury report – a bruised hip for Bradley – but had no further update.

“That’s just coach being coach”, he said.

But things got bad for the Nets in a different form. “So I’ll get myself straightened out, and I’ll work on what needs to be changed”.

“We’re definitely not one of the best teams in the National Basketball Association, so I don’t get how we can possibly think it’s OK to play down to anybody”, Thomas said. In that regard, I think we’re not kids. “We’re not playing as well as we think we are, so we’ve got to be better”. But the Celtics could not complete their final push and had no answer for Lopez, who methodically went to work in the post time after time. Boston and Brooklyn meet against Monday at Barclays Center.

Brooklyn led by 10 entering the final quarter, but the Celtics opened the fourth with a 12-2 run, tying it on Turner’s baseline fallaway jumper. But Lopez gave the Nets the lead again with a three-point play, and his putback made it 90-85 with 6:34 to play. But the Celtics weren’t going down without a fight.

But the Nets were eventually able to break the Celtics’ full court press.

The Nets have been a disastrous team late in fourth quarters, and it seemed like this game would be more of the same. Still, they led at the half despite shooting 1-of-7 from three.

With 9:56 left in the third quarter and the score tied at 58, Lopez attempted a shot inside and Celtics forward Jared Sullinger pulled him to the ground by his shoulders.

After a replay review, Sullinger was given a flagrant-1, meaning he was not ejected. After a scramble for the offensive rebound, Jae Crowder couldn’t release another shot before the buzzer and the Celtics collectively wondered why they can’t string together any sort of consistency. During the first quarter Saturday they couldn’t get stops.