Kyrie Irving Scores 25 as Celtics Beat Nets for 13th Straight Win
The Boston Celtics defeated the Brooklyn Nets, 109-102, at Barclays Center on Tuesday night for their 13th straight victory.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info), the Celtics are the first team in NBA history to win 13 in a row immediately after opening the season 0-2.
Injured forward Gordon Hayward reveled in that fact once the final buzzer sounded:
Kyrie Irving, who returned from a one-game absence after he suffered a minor facial fracture, dropped a game-high 25 points on 8-of-20 shooting while donning a protective mask.
As the shooting splits indicate, it was hardly Irving's most efficient night.
However, he came up big and dropped seven of his 11 second-half points in the fourth quarter to help the Celtics put things on ice.
Irving was joined in double figures by all four other Boston starters, including Al Horford (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Marcus Morris—who dropped a season-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting and pulled down 10 boards.
Rookie forward Jayson Tatum chipped in 19 points on just nine shots. He went 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe as he continued to show impressive polish for a first-year player, as ESPN.com's Zach Lowe noted:
Second-year forward Jaylen Brown dropped 14 points, with his flashiest two coming in the form of a transition tomahawk slam:
The Celtics will be off Wednesday, but their winning streak will be put to the test Thursday when they host the Golden State Warriors at TD Garden in a high-powered cross-conference clash.
