Coach Jason Kidd opted to rest his entire starting lineup for the Nets’ penultimate preseason matchup with the Celtics on Wednesday night, but Brooklyn did get to see one of its key reserves make his unofficial team debut.

Returning to Boston for the first time since the trade that sent he, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn, reserve guard Jason Terry played 24 minutes and finished with seven points on 3-of-7 shooting.

“It’s big,” Coach Kidd told the New York Post of Terry’s return. “He’s a veteran guy who knows how to play. It’s always good to get more of your team back. He’s ready to go.”

Brooklyn Nets v Boston Celtics

But without Pierce, Garnett, Deron Williams, Brook Lopez, Joe Johnson and Andrei Kirilenko, the Nets didn’t have enough firepower to overcome a late rally by Boston and dropped their second to last preseason game, 101-97 to the Celtics. It was the second loss of the preseason for Coach Kidd’s squad, which dropped to 4-2 heading into Friday night’s preseason finale in Miami.

The absence of all five starters gave the game a decidedly preseason feel, but it did serve to allow some of the team’s younger players a chance to showcase their talent, in addition to providing a tune-up for key reserves.

The Nets starting five for Wednesday’s game included most of those key backups, with Terry and Shaun Livingston in the backcourt and Alan Anderson on the wing. But Coach Kidd made a bit of a change in the frontcourt by putting rookie Mason Plumlee in the starting five with Andray Blatche instead of usual second team big man Reggie Evans.

“We’ve played Blatche and Reggie a lot together,” Jason said. “So this is a good time to stagger them and see how they both respond.”

All three men were up to the challenge. Blatche scored 14 points in 24 minutes and Plumlee yanked down nine rebounds in 29 minutes. Off the bench, Evans had 11 points and eight rebounds in just 19 minutes.

NBA: Preseason-Brooklyn Nets at Boston Celtics

Tyshawn Taylor, who is trying to earn playing time behind Williams and Livingston, emerged as an aggressive offensive player and scored 15 points.

“I thought he looked good,” Coach Kidd told the Post.

The game was close throughout, featuring 11 ties and 13 lead changes. The Nets led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter, after starting the game on a 7-0 run and led 30-21 early in the second quarter. But the Celtics went on a big run to take a 49-44 halftime lead.

Brooklyn trimmed the Boston lead to just one after three quarters, but the Celtics took a seven-point lead in the fourth. The Nets had one more rally in them and Mirza Teletovic hit a three-pointer to pull them within one at 93-92 with two minutes remaining. However, Boston scored the next six points and closed out the game.

NEXT UP

The Nets wrap up their preseason slate on Friday night in Miami when they match up against the Heat for the second time this season.

Jason noted that his starters should play limited minutes in the final tune-up for the regular season and even left the door open for Deron Williams to see his first action of the preseason. The Heat are expected to rest star forward LeBron James.

Tip-off of Friday’s contest is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EDT and the game can be seen locally on YES or nationally on NBATV.

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