The Brooklyn-Boston rivalry is definitely one to watch out for when seeing the schedule. Both teams are easily playoff teams and have all star caliber players. The Nets won the first match-up between the two, 102-97 in Brooklyn. The Celtics are clearly looking for revenge when they play New York’s newest team.
The first quarter started out like everyone expected a tough closely fought game. The Celtics tried to keep the pace of the game slow but the Nets and Deron Williams really kept pushing the ball up court to get quick shots. Once the shots kept going back and forth, the Nets got a little hotter and Williams really found his teammates for open shots piling up four assists. The Nets were ahead at the end of the first quarter with a 28-20 lead. The Celtics got six points from Garnett and only two assists for Rajon Rondo.
The second quarter, the Brooklyn Nets really took charge and Andray Blatche really showed up to play the game. Whether it was finding teammates open or just making shots. C.J. Watson, Jerry Stackhouse, and Reggie Evans also added points for the Nets and really increased their lead into double digits and even stretched their lead to 21 points at one point.
Nov 28, 2012; Boston, MA, USA;Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo (9) emerges from a scrum with the Brooklyn Nets after having his jersey torn off during the first half at TD Garden. Rondo was ejected from the game. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-US PRESSWIRE
Now the one thing everyone will talk about it the incident close to 30 seconds left in the second quarter. A hard foul on Kevin Garnett by Kris Humphries really lit up Rajon Rondo. Rondo didn’t like the foul, so he got into the face of Humphries. Well it took a few words and the pushing began. It was essentially court clearing, as the players on the court for both team rushed to the fight and it gave a dramatic pause in the heated game. Humphries and Rondo were ejected. Gerald Wallace was ejected because he received a second technical foul on the altercation. Garnett was also given a technical foul. At half, the Nets were up 51-38.
Video of the Brawl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u3hldYeN5M
It took a halftime for the crowd to get a little-less restless, so the game continued. Deron Williams looked to score the ball more and like the first quarter it became a game where both teams exchanged baskets. Garnett, Pierce, and Brandon Bass looked to help the Celtics without their star point guard. However the Nets were too difficult to manage and huge threes by ageless wonder Jerry Stackhouse kept the lead steady for the Nets. The Nets after the third quarter held a 70-55 lead.
The fourth quarter began with the huge jump-shots by Barbosa and Terry to help cut the lead to ten. However like the first and third quarter the same exchange of baskets kept the lead around the ten to fifteen for a majority of the quarter. Joe Johnson was crucial for the Nets to maintain the lead. The game then just got easy for the Nets, as all they had to do was just run the clock. The Nets go on to win 95-83
It was evident that the Celtics, in order to compete with the elite teams, will definitely need to have Rondo on the court. Rondo needs to be mature enough to know that is team needs him on the court. His emotions have been destructive before and could really hurt him and his team if outbursts like today happen in the future.