Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Avery Bradley scored 21 points and the Boston Celtics beat the Brooklyn Nets, 89-81.
Tyler Zeller gave 18 points for Boston, which won on the road for the first time since trading longtime point guard Rajon Rondo to Dallas on Dec. 18.
Evan Turner only scored six points but posted team highs of eight rebounds and seven assists, and five Celtics reserves scored between five and nine points.
Brooklyn got 16 points and 12 rebounds from Mason Plumlee and 17 points from Joe Johnson in its third straight defeat.
"We just had a lot of careless mistakes, including myself," said Johnson. "That can't happen. We're here at home, we have to keep our crowd into it."
The Nets led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter and took a 25-19 lead into the second. The spread reached 11 on Jarrett Jack's pull-up jumper 2 1/2 minutes in when Boston mounted a comeback behind its lottery pick, Marcus Smart.
The rookie out of Oklahoma State hit consecutive 3-pointers to cut the deficit to four. Bradley's layup later in the period made it a one-point game, and Turner sent Boston into halftime with a lead with his layup inside the final minute.
"We've played some of our best basketball when behind," said Celtics coach Brad Stevens. "Just keep playing, keep figuring it out, grinding it out."
Plumlee tied it at 50 early in the third quarter. Bradley then hit from deep at the other end and Turner drove in for a dunk, and the Celtics led from there.
The lead reached 14 points on a Jae Crowder dunk at 6:03 of the fourth, and Boston wasn't challenged from there.
Game Notes
Nets guard Deron Williams left the game in the first quarter after re- aggravating his sore left side ... The Celtics are 3-7 since dealing Rondo and 1-4 on the road ... Brooklyn won the rebounding battle, 50-41, but only shot 3-of-14 from behind the arc.
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