BOSTON — After nine seasons — including nine coaches, three arenas and two states — Brook Lopez became the Nets’ all-time leading scorer Monday night.
And with all the defeats Lopez has suffered through, naturally his milestone came in a loss, Brooklyn falling 114-105 to the Celtics in front of a sellout crowd of 18,624 at TD Garden.
“It’s a great honor, I’ll be honest with you,’’ said Lopez, who asked for the game ball and got it. He had 25 points on Monday, and has 10,444 as a Net. “I’m just proud to have my name up there with those guys.”
Those guys would be Buck Williams, whose mark of 10,440 Lopez surpassed on a turnaround fadeaway to get the Nets — who had trailed by as much as 27 in the third quarter — within six with 4:01 to play. But Lopez checked out with 1:41 left and his Nets (20-61) down by a dozen, outclassed from the start.
“That’s just fantastic for a top-level guy. Great character; that’s the important thing. He’s such a kind human being. … I think of the personal stuff that he brings every day. Obviously he’s a heck of a player, elite player in this league. I know he would’ve liked to get a win, but you can’t have everything,’’ said Kenny Atkinson.
“That’s awesome. I’m really happy for him,’’ said Jeremy Lin, who had 26 points and 12 rebounds. “Huge congratulations for him to do what he’s done. If I could describe Brook in one word it’d be: consistency. To do something like that, it requires consistent, consistent work, night-in, night-out. He brings it every night. I’m really happy for him.”
The Nets’ 11-11 mark since March 1 had been sixth-best in the East, but they’re still going to finish in the NBA cellar and have a long way to go before they can even think about contention. They’re just trying to gauge the gap and narrow it this summer. If Monday’s loss is a sign, that gap is a chasm.
“We have to be careful and take it with a bit of a grain of salt,’’ Atkinson said. “We have to understand that at this time of the year not every team is fighting for a playoff spot, so we have to be tempered in our evaluation of the situation.
“[We’re] not putting up on the whiteboard, ‘Hey, we’re going to the playoffs next year.’ We have to stick with our really humble outlook. … We’ve won 20 games and we obviously have a lot of work to do.”
Isaiah Thomas (game-high 27 points) and the Celtics reminded them of that.
Boston (52-29) has a shot to finish atop the Eastern Conference with a win Wednesday (Cleveland’s overtime loss saw to that) and the best shot at winning the lottery (ex-Nets general manager Billy King trading away the rights to Brooklyn’s first-round pick saw to that).
In a first half Atkinson described as “completely out of it,” the Nets shot 27.3 percent to dig an 18-point hole. It reached 69-42 early in the third on a pull-up by Al Hordford (19 points). But Lopez had 11 points in a 31-14 run to get Brooklyn within 10, he and Lin playing the whole third quarter for the first time all season.
Brooklyn got within 99-92 on Lin’s free throws with 6:46 to play, and 103-97 on Lopez’ fadeaway. But the Nets couldn’t draw any closer.
The Nets have six players on team options, all at the veteran’s minimum except for K.J. McDaniels, on whom they hold a $3.5 million option. While Sean Kilpatrick seems safe, McDaniels, Quincy Acy, Joe Harris, Spencer Dinwiddie and Archie Goodwin are vying for jobs.
“Our young guys are trying to prove themselves. That helps. They’re fighting for minutes, fighting for contracts, fighting for their future,’’ said Atkinson.
The Pacers are seventh in the East at 41-40, a game ahead of Chicago and Miami, who both hold tiebreakers vs. Indiana. If the Pacers miss the playoffs, the Nets get their second-round pick.