Boston Celtics at Brooklyn Nets

Porzingis scores 24 in his return to help the Celtics hold on to beat the Nets 115-113

Payton Pritchard added 22 points and Jayson Tatum had 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Celtics, who seemed headed for an easy night after a 25-7 run to open the second quarter gave them a 21-point lead. The Nets cut it to two in the fourth quarter before Porzingis made some clutch plays in his first game since Feb. 26.

The Celtics rested Derrick White and Al Horford a night after winning in Miami and clinching a playoff spot, then lost Jaylen Brown in the second half after he left with back spasms.

Pritchard, who set the NBA single-season record during the game with his 219th 3-pointer off the bench, made three free throws in the closing seconds.

Cam Johnson scored 23 points and Keon Johnson had 21 for the Nets, who lost for the 10th time in 11 games.

Takeaways Celtics: Boston relies on the 3-pointer, but having Porzingis man the middle provides a different dimension when the long balls aren't falling.

Nets: Brooklyn announced Saturday that leading scorer Cam Thomas is expected to miss the rest of the season with a strained left hamstring. Thomas averaged 24 points but was limited to 25 games by the injury he initially sustained in November.

Key moment Boston's lead was down to 94-92 with 7:59 to play before Porzingis converted a three-point play and then made his only 3-pointer of the night to push it to 100-92 a minute later.

Key stat Boston has won eight straight in the regular season in Brooklyn, not losing since April 23, 2021.

Up next Brooklyn hosts Atlanta on Sunday. The Celtics don't play again until hosting the Nets on Tuesday night.

Regular Season Series

BOS leads series 3-0

Matchup Prediction