Jaylen Brown scored 23 of his 29 points in the second half as the Boston Celtics did enough in the fourth quarter and moved above .500 for the first time this season with a 113-99 victory over the Brooklyn Nets Tuesday night in New York.
The Celtics won their third straight and for the eighth time in 12 games since opening the season with a three-game skid.
Brown made 9 of 19 shots along with 8 of 10 free throws in front of many Boston fans in the stands.
Payton Pritchard added 22 and Derrick White contributed 15 for the Celtics, who struggled to shake off a pesky challenge by the Nets for most of the night before beating Brooklyn for the 15th time in the past 16 regular-season meetings. Pritchard and White combined to hit eight of Boston’s 19 3-pointers.
Anfernee Simons added 11 and Sam Hauser finished with eight as the Celtics shot 49.3% and overcame committing a season-worst 20 turnovers.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 25 points, but the Nets dropped to 0-7 at home and were unable to win consecutive games for the first time this season. Day’Ron Sharpe added 16, Noah Clowney contributed 13 while rookie Egor Demin and Ziaire Williams finished with 12 apiece.
The Nets struggled in the fourth quarter by getting outscored 24-14 while shooting 4-of-15 and committing seven turnovers. Brooklyn was held under 100 points for the third time this season.
After the Celtics settled for a 62-61 lead by halftime, they appeared to seize control in the third.
Brown converted a 3-point play and sank a 3-pointer in a span of 36 seconds to give Boston a 75-65 lead with 7:28 left and the Celtics held an 11-point lead after he hit a short jumper nearly three minutes later.
The Celtics were unable to pull away further and settled for an 89-85 lead into the fourth when Brown sank an open 3 with 16.3 seconds left. Porter’s 3 put Brooklyn up 90-89 with 9:08 left but Neemias Queta’s reverse dunk snapped a 90-90 deadlock less than a minute later and the Celtics took a 100-92 lead on a triple by White with 5 1/2 minutes left.
White buried an open corner 3 for a 103-93 lead with 4:06 left and Brown sank a 32-footer from the right side for a 107-93 lead with 2:55 to clinch it.
