BOSTON — Getting the most high-leverage minutes of his NBA career, Egor Dëmin hit the biggest shot of his life.
After the Nets saw an 18-point third-quarter lead cut to two at 96-94, Dëmin drilled a huge 3-pointer with 5:04 left to staunch the bleeding and lead a 113-105 win over the Celtics before a sellout crowd at TD Garden.
“I thought that 3 that Egor hit was the biggest offensive play of the game. It really turned the tides. They cut it to two. [We] get that 3 to go five, and then from there, we found a few more baskets,” Michael Porter Jr said.
“It was pretty good,” Dëmin said. “It got pretty quiet, so I didn’t feel that energy as much, obviously, because we’re not home. But it means a lot for me to be for the first time on that court, that iconic court, and being able to have a chance to hit the 3 like that at the end of the game with that crowd in that moment of the game. It felt really good. It felt really good, honestly.”
Dëmin finished with 12 points, six rebounds and five assists, logging 9:12 in the pivotal final period after often finding himself benched late.
“He played so hard, and that’s why he earned the right to be out there. And he showed composure,” head coach Jordi Fernández said.
The Russian teen said it was huge to have earned Fernández’s faith.
“It means everything,” Dëmin said. “I think that’s how I can build on my confidence even more, right, obviously understanding that the coaching staff is believing in me and believing in all of us. I think this is where we can get even more power and even more energy to play as hard as we can.”
Porter (33 points on 13-of-21 shooting, 4-of-6 from deep) has scored at least 20 for his eighth consecutive game, extending his career-long streak. It’s the highest-scoring eight-game span of his career.
Nic Claxton (18 points, career-high 12 assists, 11 boards) notched his first-career triple-double. It’s the first by a Net since Ben Simmons on Jan. 17, 2023.
“It felt amazing, so good. It was a good team win and everybody contributed. First triple-double in Boston,” Claxton said. His parents were present, including his father, Charles, who played for the Celtics.
Ben Saraf remains sidelined with a left ankle sprain, while Danny Wolf and Nolan Traore were assigned to Long Island for Saturday’s tilt at Nassau Coliseum vs. the Greensboro Swarm.
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