Game-On! Celtics @ Nets - November 15, 2012

Point guard Rajon Rondo might not be ready to go for the Boston Celtics, but the Brooklyn Nets still want to see how they fare against the five-time defending Atlantic Division champs.

They didn't match up well in Boston's first visit to Barclays Center.

The Celtics and Nets each go for a fourth consecutive victory on Thursday night in their first regular-season meeting in Brooklyn.

The NBA leader with 12.5 assists per game, Rondo is day-to-day after leaving in the third quarter of Wednesday's 98-93 victory over Utah with a right ankle injury.

Newcomer Leandro Barbosa stepped in for the three-time All-Star and scored 16 of Boston's 47 bench points.

"Barbosa was terrific,'' coach Doc Rivers said. "I mean, he bailed us out.''

The Celtics (5-3) were in no danger of losing in their first trip to Brooklyn, a 115-85 preseason victory on Oct. 18 that marked the Nets' first national television appearance since March 30, 2011.

Kevin Garnett said after that game that Boston was just "all business" and that its intensity had "nothing to do with Brooklyn" and trying to quiet all the hype the franchise has received by relocating from New Jersey. Nets coach Avery Johnson saw it differently.

"They came in with a different agenda in our preseason game. I think we'll have a little bit of a different agenda tomorrow," Johnson said after Wednesday's practice. "We're a better team (then we were then) and hopefully it will show on the floor."

NEW YORK (AP) -- Brooklyn's Backcourt broke out.

Deron Williams had 26 points and 10 assists, Joe Johnson scored 25 points, and the Nets beat the road-weary Cleveland Cavaliers 114-101 on Tuesday night for their third straight victory.

Expected to be one of the league's best guard tandems, Williams and Johnson are still trying to find their way together in a new home on a rebuilt team. They know games such as this one are expected, and both said they can be delivered regularly.

''It's probably the best game that we've had together,'' Johnson said. ''It's still early in the season, but yeah, I'm sure that's the vision everybody had, that's the vision I had and I'm sure this won't be the last (big) game. Like I say man, we're just figuring things out.''

Brook Lopez added 23 points for the Nets, who opened a 20-point lead at home for the third straight game, but this time barely let up and beat the Cavaliers for the sixth time in eight meetings after losing nine in a row, mostly during the LeBron James era.