Celtics narrowly miss historic feat in blowout win over the Nets

The Celtics returned home from the West Coast with authority on Friday. They started hot and never slowed down in their 148-111 win over the Nets.

Here's what stood out:

Holy efficiency, Jaylen Brown!

Jaylen Brown’s season-long masterclass has dominated headlines. A 28-point, nine-assist, and six-rebound performance isn’t exactly front-page news at this stage of the campaign.

What is newsworthy, however, is the manner in which he put this Picasso of a game together. The five-time All-Star let the game come to him early on. He dished out more assists (four) than shot attempts (three) in the opening frame.

Then, out of nowhere, he completely took over in the late-second and early-third quarters. There was a stretch where JB either scored or assisted on 19 consecutive points for Boston. Brooklyn simply had no answer for him. Brown missed just one shot in the final three quarters (really only two of the three, he didn’t have to play the fourth quarter).

Holy efficiency… everyone?

It was just one of those nights (non-derogatory). The Celtics hardly missed. It felt unsustainable when they sank 14 of their first 20 shots. That feeling was wrong. Boston maintained a near-identical efficiency through the first 43 minutes of this game, which is the point I’m writing this.

They finished the night just short of the team record for single-game field-goal percentage (67.9%). They'll just have to settle for the second highest, which they achieved by knocking down 66.7% of their attempts from the floor.

Tremendous Nikola Vucevic game

The header sums it up pretty well. Friday was the best Nikola Vucevic has played in a Celtics uniform. It’s only been a month, but the big man’s versatile scoring, playmaking, and presence on the glass were on full display through Boston’s beatdown of the Nets.

The Celtics seemed to focus on getting Vuc the ball in the first quarter. He poured in 10 quick points, taking advantage of the several post-up opportunities that came his way.

He finished the night with 28 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists on an efficient (duh, everyone was) 9-13 from the field and 3-3 from deep.

Whynot…

On Friday, Josh Minott played first game against the Celtics since being traded to the Nets earlier this month. His first stint left most Boston fans with a “man, why’d they trade this guy for absolutely nothing in return?” feeling.

The former Celtics forward helped his new squad survive an early onslaught from the Cs -- on where they hardly missed. He hustled to create offensive opportunities for the Nets, whether that meant sprinting in transition and throwing down a loud dunk over Hugo Gonzalez, or crashing the offensive glass for a last-second tip-in ahead of the first-quarter buzzer.

Through those first nine minutes, Minott sure played like he had something to prove.

He was fine in his second-half stint. Minott sank a three and grabbed an extra rebound to bring his statline to nine points and two boards.