Celtics at Nets
Any meeting between the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets takes on a special meaning above a regular-season game between division rivals due to their respective futures being intertwined. The Celtics will try to improve their draft position and their position in the standings when they visit the Nets on Wednesday.
Brooklyn traded away its 2014, 2016 and 2018 first-round draft picks as well as the right to swap picks in 2017 in the ill-fated deal that sent Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Nets from Boston. The Celtics drafted Jaylen Brown with the No. 3 overall pick last June and are hoping Brooklyn can offer another high lottery pick in the 2017 swap. The Nets are well on their way to another losing season and allowed an average of 126.5 points during a four-game slide, capped by a 129-109 home loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday. Boston is thriving with the return of Al Horford and Jae Crowder to the lineup and picked up its second consecutive win, 99-93 at Minnesota on Monday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CSN New England (Boston), YES (Brooklyn)
ABOUT THE CELTICS (8-6): Horford missed nine games due to a concussion but is fitting right in upon his return and averaged 19 points, 8.5 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in the pair of wins. The veteran center signed the largest free-agent deal in team history over the summer at four years and $113 million, and his worth was evident as Boston was struggling to a 4-5 mark in the games he missed. Horford also stretches the defense from the center spot and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in each of the last two games as the Celtics won at Detroit and Minnesota to open the three-game road trip.
ABOUT THE NETS (4-9): While Boston was signing Horford over the summer, Brooklyn was using its cap space to upgrade at the point guard position with Jeremy Lin, but the Harvard product sat out the last eight games with a hamstring strain and remains day-to-day. "Jeremy's progressing well," Nets coach Kenny Atkinson told the New York Post. "I can't give a timetable in terms of a specific day he's back. He's progressing on schedule." Isaiah Whitehead started at point guard on Sunday and went 2-of-10 from the floor while handing out two assists in 24 minutes.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nets reserve C Jordan Hamilton is 5-of-10 from 3-point range in the last two games.
2. Crowder (ankle) experienced recurring pain in the second half of Wednesday's win and is day-to-day.
3. The teams split the four-game series last season, with Boston earning one win in Brooklyn.