Record Brook
Lopez sets Nets' scoring mark in loss Celtics
BOSTON — After nine seasons — including nine coaches, three arenas and two states — Brook Lopez became the Nets’ all-time leading scorer Monday night.
And with all the defeats Lopez has suffered through, naturally his milestone came in a loss, Brooklyn falling 114-105 to the Celtics in front of a sellout crowd of 18,624 at TD Garden.
“It’s a great honor, I’ll be honest with you,’’ said Lopez, who asked for the game ball and got it. He had 25 points on Monday, and has 10,444 as a Net. “I’m just proud to have my name up there with those guys.”
Those guys would be Buck Williams, whose mark of 10,440 Lopez surpassed on a turnaround fadeaway to get the Nets — who had trailed by as much as 27 in the third quarter — within six with 4:01 to play. But Lopez checked out with 1:41 left and his Nets (20-61) down by a dozen, outclassed from the start.
“That’s just fantastic for a top-level guy. Great character; that’s the important thing. He’s such a kind human being. … I think of the personal stuff that he brings every day. Obviously he’s a heck of a player, elite player in this league. I know he would’ve liked to get a win, but you can’t have everything,’’ said Kenny Atkinson.
“That’s awesome. I’m really happy for him,’’ said Jeremy Lin, who had 26 points and a dozen rebounds. “Huge congratulations for him to do what he’s done. If I could describe Brook in one word it’d be consistency. To do something like that, it requires consistent, consistent work, night-in, night-out. He brings it every night. I’m really happy for him.”
The Nets’ 11-11 mark since March 1 had been sixth-best in the East, but they aren’t letting their strong close to either the season. They’re going to finish in the NBA cellar, and have a long way to go before they can even think about contention. They’re just trying to gauge the gap, and narrow it this summer. If Monday’s loss is a sign, that gap is a chasm.
“We have to be careful and take it with a bit of a grain of salt,’’ said Atkinson. “We have to understand that at this time of the year not every team is fighting for a playoff spot, so we have to be tempered in our evaluation of the situation.
“[We’re] not putting up on the whiteboard ‘Hey, we’re going to the playoffs next year.’ We have to stick with our really humble outlook. … We’ve won 20 games and we obviously have a lot of work to do.”
Isaiah Thomas (game-high 27 points) and the Celtics reminded them of that.
Boston (52-29) has a shot to finish atop the East with a win Wednesday (Cleveland’s overtime loss saw to that) and the best shot at winning the lottery (ex-Nets general manager Billy King trading away the rights to Brooklyn’s first-round pick saw to that).
In a first half Atkinson described as “completely out of it,” the Nets shot 27.3 percent to dig an 18-point hole. It reached 69-42 early in the third on a pull-up by Al Hordford (19 points). But Lopez had 11 points in a 31-14 run to get Brooklyn within 10, he and Lin playing the whole third quarter for the first time all season.
Brooklyn got within 99-92 on Lin’s free throws with 6:46 to play, and 103-97 on Lopez’ fadeaway. But the Nets couldn’t draw any closer.
The Pacers seventh in the East at 41-40, a game ahead of Chicago and Miami, who both hold tiebreakers vs. Indiana. If the Pacers miss the playoffs, the Nets get their secondround pick.