Nets Still Haunted With Memories Of Last Beatdown From Celtics

The Celtics and Nets faced off fresh off last season’s All-Star break and a jaw-dropping 136-86 Celtics victory left Brooklyn’s mouth so sour that the organization fired then-head coach Jacque Vaughn five days later.

Fast-forward eight months, Boston is standing tall as reigning champions, and Brooklyn has its first chance at redemption for that horrendous Feb. 14 trip to TD Garden. The Nets began preparing to face the Celtics on Thursday for the first time since enduring that 50-point beating and the team still hasn’t forgotten about that dreadful performance that became just one of many Boston unleashed amid its 64-win regular season.

“Yeah, but they’ve been beating the (expletive) out of a lot of people,” Dorian Finney-Smith said, per Bridget Reilly of the New York Post. “I think that was off a back-to-back right before the All-Star break. (There were) a lot of things going on last year, but none of that matters. Got a whole new team, a whole new system. But yeah, I definitely spoke about it because that was probably the craziest game I’ve been a part of and just because we played them so well the night before and they just got us out of there. They (have) shooters, got a bunch of shooting, (going to) shoot a bunch of threes. They’re going to crash the glass. It’s going to be a good game. A great challenge.”

Boston hasn’t seen a lot of change regarding its roster, only saying goodbye to Svi Mykhailiuk and Oshae Brissett this past offseason, meaning the Nets won’t be seeing a drastically different Celtics team. Sure, Kristaps Porzingis and Jaylen Brown (left hip flexor) are ruled out while Luke Kornet is listed as doubtful (right hamstring tightness), but when it came to overcoming undermanned situations, the Celtics flourished last season. Challenges weren’t all that challenging, whether in the regular season or playoffs.

On the other hand, Brooklyn will enter Friday night’s battle with a modest 4-4 start to its campaign — ranking fourth in the Eastern Conference — fully aware of what to expect at the opening tip.

“Their crowd (is) in it. Boston fans, they loyal,” Finney-Smith, per the New York Post. “And they a historical organization. So, they (are going to) be there. They get loud in there. But I feel like that’s when we come close as a team, when we on the road.”