Celtics.com
BROOKLYN – The Celtics were missing a few things with Isaiah Thomas out of the lineup on Friday, so Jae Crowder did his best to help pick up the slack in Brooklyn Friday night.
It wasn’t always pretty, but Boston held on for its third straight victory. The Celtics spent a lot of time trading baskets with the Nets late in the fourth, but they eventually prevailed, 98-95, to improve their record to 44-25, including an Eastern Conference-best road record of 21-16.
As the King of the Fourth convalesced back in Boston with a sore knee, Crowder dropped nine of his 24 points in the final stanza, the loudest two of which came on a head-fake and baseline one-handed slam that sent the Celtics bench into hysterics.