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Williams shines as Nets drop Celtics

Nov 16, 2012 - 8:03 AM Brooklyn, NY (Sports Network) - Deron Williams posted 24 points and eight assists as the Brooklyn Nets took a 102-97 win over the Boston Celtics.

Brook Lopez also had 24 points and grabbed six rebounds while Joe Johnson gave 19 points in the win for the Nets, who have won four straight.

"This is such a great place to play in, the crowd really gets into it," said Lopez. "We just stuck together and played our game. As long as we do that every night, we'll do fine."

Paul Pierce gave 22 points and seven rebounds while Leandro Barbosa added 17 points for the Celtics, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Boston faced a 12-point deficit in the third, but scored 12 unanswered points to tie the game on a Barbosa layup. After Williams made a bucket, the Celtics scored the next eight points and eventually took a 79-74 lead into the final frame.

The game stayed close in the fourth until the Nets scored six straight for a 93-87 lead when Lopez put in a bucket with 1:45 to go.

Kevin Garnett then hit a short shot and, after Johnson was called for traveling, Jeff Green buried a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game with under a minute to play.

Brooklyn answered with four straight free throws before Pierce buried a long 3-pointer to make it a 97-95 game with 24 seconds to play.

After Williams and Pierce exchanged a pair of free throws, Williams hit two more before Jason Terry missed both of his at the Boston end with 11.6 seconds to play to end any hopes of Boston coming back.

Brooklyn never trailed in the first half and two free throws from Kris Humphries followed by a 3-pointer from Keith Bogans gave the team a 16-6 lead with 7 1/2 minutes left in the first.

Boston kept it close and cut the lead to five points, 31-26, heading to the second quarter.

A Garnett jumper tied the game at 38-all with just over six minutes to play, but the Nets answered with a 7-0 run to take the lead back and Johnson's 3- ball late in the half allowed the team to take a 59-50 advantage into the break.

"I was disappointed with our effort in the first half," said Boston coach Doc Rivers.

Game Notes

Boston hosts Toronto on Saturday ... Brooklyn heads to California for three games starting on Sunday in Sacramento ... Boston took all three meetings against the Nets last season ... Garnett had 14 points and seven rebounds in the game.