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Pierce, Garnett lead Nets into Boston

Jan 26, 2014 - 3:24 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - They joined forces to win a title in Boston.

They joined forces again with Brooklyn in hopes of repeating history.

Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett will visit their old stomping grounds when the Nets pay a visit to the Celtics Sunday at TD Garden. Pierce and Garnett won an NBA championship together in 2008 and were sent down the east coast corridor to Brooklyn this past offseason.

Things haven't gone exactly as planned for the Nets, but they've been playing extremely well of late and sit just two games off the Atlantic Division lead. The Nets have won four in a row and nine of their last 10 games, including Friday's 107-106 victory over the visiting Dallas Mavericks.

Mirza Teletovic scored 24 of his career-high 34 points in the second quarter, while Deron Williams had 18 points and 11 assists coming off the bench again. Williams has been bothered by injury this season. Garnett added 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Pierce chipped in 12 points for Brooklyn, which made 50.7 percent for the game and scored 23 points off 15 Dallas turnovers.

"Mirza was going good pretty much the whole game and he made a big shot down the end for us," said Nets coach Jason Kidd.

Jason Terry also played with Pierce and Garnett in Boston and is now with the Nets, and scored eight points versus the Mavs.

Brooklyn is 7-13 on the road and will return home to face Toronto and Oklahoma City after its Boston trip.

The Celtics will try to bounce back from Friday's 101-83 loss to the Thunder, who were without the NBA's leading scorer, Kevin Durant, because of a shoulder issue. That didn't matter for OKC, which also played without Russell Westbrook. Westbrook is recovering from knee surgery.

Former Thunder forward Jeff Green led the Celtics with 16 points, while Gerald Wallace and Brandon Bass added 13 and 11 points, respectively. The Celtics committed 17 turnovers for 22 Oklahoma City points and lost for the 13th time in the previous 15 tries.

"Collectively, we were not engaged defensively together," said Boston coach Brad Stevens.

Rajon Rondo compiled five points and eight assists in defeat.

Boston has lost two in a row at home and owns a 9-13 mark in Beantown. It dropped a 104-96 decision in Brooklyn on Dec. 10 and has lost four of the last five matchups between the Atlantic foes.

The Nets are only 3-9 in the last 12 trips to TD Garden.