Nets rally from 28 points down to stun Celtics
The Brooklyn Nets stunned the Boston Celtics 115-105 on Friday, rallying from a 28-point deficit to beat the Eastern Conference contenders on their home floor in the biggest comeback win of the NBA season. Mikal Bridges scored 38 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Cameron Johnson, celebrating his 27th birthday, added 20 points for Brooklyn, who have struggled to find their form since the February trades that saw stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant depart. They'd lost four straight, including a blowout loss to the New York Knicks on Wednesday and looked to be heading for another lopsided defeat when the Celtics took a 51-23 lead with 7:23 left in the second quarter. "We just kept fighting," Bridges said. "We just kept fighting, we got stops and that was the biggest thing – defence and getting out in transition, but it all started with our defence." The Nets had whittled the deficit to nine points at halftime and took the lead for the first time – and for good – with 6:11 left in the third quarter. The win marked the biggest comeback of the season, eclipsing the Lakers' fightback from a 27-point deficit in a victory over Dallas. "We ain't gonna stop playing no matter what the score is," said Bridges, who arrived in the trade that sent Durant to the Phoenix Suns. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 35 points. Jayson Tatum, celebrating his 25th birthday, added 22 points with 13 rebounds but the Celtics have lost two of their last three and slipped a bit further behind the Milwaukee Bucks atop the East. "We got off to a really good start playing the right way and we just took the foot off the gas and it cost us," said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, who also saw center Robert Williams depart early in the third quarter with a tight left hamstring. "You can't be comfortable." Elsewhere, Julius Randle scored 43 points, draining the game-winning three-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining to lift the New York Knicks to an eighth straight win, 122-120 over the Heat in Miami. Jalen Brunson added 25 points for the surging Knicks. Jimmy Butler scored 33 points for Miami and Tyler Herro added 29. Herro's layup put the Heat ahead by one with 23.1 seconds left to play. Randle responded, coming up with the game-winner after nearly having the ball poked away by Butler. "He actually got a clean deflection, but I just wanted to stay with it, keep playing," Randle said. "I just trust and believe in myself." In Chicago, Devin Booker drilled six three-pointers on the way to 35 points to lead the Phoenix Suns to a 125-104 victory over the Bulls. Durant, playing his second game as a Sun, scored 20 points to help Phoenix withstand a 31-point performance from Chicago's DeMar DeRozan. In Atlanta, Dejounte Murray scored a career-high 41 points to lead the Hawks to a 129-111 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Damian Lillard scored 33 points for Portland, but the Blazers have now lost three straight since Sunday – when Lillard erupted for 71 points in a victory over Houston. (AFP)