Boston Celtics center Al Horford dunks against Brooklyn Nets center Andre Drummond in the first half Thursday night in New York. Noah K. Murray/Associated Press
NEW YORK — Jayson Tatum scored 30 points and the Boston Celtics returned from the All-Star break with their second romp in Brooklyn this month, beating the Nets 129-106 on Thursday night.
Jaylen Brown added 18 points and Marcus Smart had 15. The Celtics picked up where they left off before the break, when they won nine of their final 10 games. One of those was a 126-91 victory in Brooklyn on Feb. 8, when they jumped to a 28-2 lead.
This one wasn’t much closer. Boston never trailed, just as it didn’t that night, led by as much as 29 and won its sixth straight on the road.
Tatum had the highlight play of the night when he dunked over two defenders, though he was hardly the only guy in green who didn’t find much resistance from the Nets’ defense. Boston put seven players in double figures.
The Celtics’ strong stretch before the break moved them up to sixth place in the Eastern Conference, though just two games back of third.
Way back in eighth are the Nets, who fell to 31-29 and might need a good run just to get into playoff position without having to go through the play-in round.
Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons and Goran Dragic all watched from the bench, with Kyrie Irving unable to be in the building because he isn’t vaccinated against the coronavirus as mandated to play in New York City.
Coach Steve Nash said Durant (sprained left knee ligament) and the newly signed Dragic could be ready to play in the next three games, though perhaps not Saturday when the Nets visit Milwaukee. It’s still unknown when Simmons, who didn’t play for Philadelphia before the Nets acquired him in the deal for James Harden at the trade deadline, will be ready.
Seth Curry scored 22 points and Bruce Brown had 15 for the Nets, who lost for the 13th time in 15 games.
The Celtics jumped to a 22-10 lead midway through the first quarter. They led 35-22 going to the second – a six-point improvement for the Nets after it was 35-16 after one in the Feb. 8 game.
Derrick White’s three-point play made it 48-26 early in the second before the Nets trimmed it to 67-52 at halftime. Tatum then lad 11 in the third as the Celtics pushed it to 98-74.
NOTES: Coach Ime Udoka said the Celtics would monitor the buyout market before March 1, but felt the Celtics may have addressed their needs through trades when they got White and Daniel Theis at the deadline. “So we checked a lot of boxes with what they bring to the group,” he said. … White scored 13 points.
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