Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder Lead Celtics To 122-117 Season-Opening Win Over Nets

Isaiah Thomas had 25 points and nine assists, Jae Crowder added 21 points and Al Horford chipped in 11 in his Boston debut as the Celtics defeated the Brooklyn Nets 122-117 in both team’s season opener at TD Garden Wednesday night.

Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder Lead Celtics To 122-117 Season-Opening Win Over Nets

The Nets had erased most of a 23-point deficit against the Boston backups, and they would make it an eight-point game before Celtics coach Brad Stevens got his first team back in.

”It’s a reminder of how quickly things can turn in this league,” Stevens said. ”I probably will be less likely to leave them in that long if we’re in a similar scenario. Hopefully we learn from it, and we’re not.”

Bojan Bogdanovic scored 21 for the Nets, including a 3-pointer to make it 120-117 with 47 seconds remaining. However, he missed another 3 with an opportunity to tie it after Joe Harris intercepted Thomas’ cross-court pass, and the Celtics were able to maintain the lead.

Justin Hamilton came off the bench to score a career-high 19 points and record 10 rebounds for Brooklyn.

”Very pleased that we didn’t give up and we kept on fighting,” coach Kenny Atkinson said following his debut.

The Celtics were up 112-89 with 8 minutes left, and they led by 19 with 5:28 remaining when Avery Bradley went to the bench to join the rest of the first-teamers, who began the quarter there.

Thomas, Crowder, Horford, Bradley and Amir Johnson re-entered the game with an eight-point lead and 2:07 remaining and did just enough to preserve it. Bradley got nine rebounds, the biggest coming after Hamilton’s missed 3-point shot with 15 seconds remaining on another attempt to tie it.

Hamilton credited the Brooklyn bench for cutting the deficit.

”They came in with the energy that we needed to have the whole game,” he said.

Horford contributed five rebounds and six assists for the Celtics, who signed him during the offseason to a four-year, $113 million deal.

Boston is hoping he will help lead them to an Atlantic Division title this season, one year after the Celtics finished eight games behind the Toronto Raptors with the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

‘He’s the same the same old Al,” Atkinson said, ”doing the stuff and hitting the big shots.”

Also making his debut with the Celtics was No. 3 overall draft pick Jaylen Brown, who scored nine points on 3-for-4 shooting, and he added two blocked shots in 19-plus minutes.

Brown said he was nervous for his first start, but not overly so.

The Nets will next host the Indiana Pacers on Thursday, while the Celtics will visit Chicago on Thursday. The Bulls will try to hold onto the city’s attention on an off-night for the World Series, where the Cubs are trying to win their first national championship since 1908.

BOSTON, MA – OCTOBER 26: Isaiah Thomas #4 of the Boston Celtics grabs a loose ball in front of Chris McCullough #1 of the Brooklyn Nets during the second half at TD Garden on October 26, 2016 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics defeat the Nets 122-117.