Leandro Barbosa has 10 points and two assists at the half as Boston Celtics trail the Brooklyn Nets, 59-50, as they meet for the first time at the Barclays Center on Thursday night in Brooklyn, NY.
From the beginning of the first quarter Barbosa struggled defending Brooklyn's All-Star point guard, Deron Williams, forcing the Celtics rotate in order to double. This opened up the lane and allowed Brook Lopez to have his way on this inside against the undersized Boston interior. At the end of the first quarter, Williams had dished out five assists, while scoring five points. Lopez notched a game-high 10 points in the first frame, allowing Brooklyn to jump out to a 31-26 lead.
With Williams sitting to start the second quarter, Boston used a run, sparked by Courtney Lee's electric play off the bench, to tie the game at 38-38 with 6:20 remaining in the half. The Celtics were able to focus on individual assignments and get out in transition with the star guard on the bench. With Williams back in the game though, the Nets offense was back to business as usual, extending the lead yet again.
After scoring just 10 points in his last three games, Lee scored nine in the first half.
Boston had six turnovers in the first quarter, but settled down in the second quarter, only turning the ball over only one more time in the half. The Nets out-rebounded the Celtics, 24-17, and had an absurd 14 offensive boards on the Boston interior.
Despite leading, Brooklyn connected on only 45 percent of their shots, while Boston hit 54 percent of their attempts.
For more Boston Celtics coverage, visit our team blog, Celtics Blog.