Joe Harris scored 20 points as the Brooklyn Nets survived a rough shooting night by Kyrie Irving and withstood a late charge by the visiting Boston Celtics in a 109-104 victory Friday night in New York.
The Nets (40-20) moved a half-game ahead of the idle Philadelphia 76ers into the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia visits Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon.
Brooklyn led for the final 33:56 and survived despite getting outscored 27-15 in the final 10-plus minutes and controlling the pace with a whopping 32-3 margin on fast-break points overall.
Jeff Green added 19 for the Nets, who shot 43 percent and withstood Irving missing 15 of 19 shots. Despite his rough sho…
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