Crowder helps lift Celtics past Nets

Brooklyn — Jae Crowder scored nine of his 24 points late in the fourth quarter, Avery Bradley had 16 overall, and the Boston Celtics edged the Brooklyn Nets 98-95 on Friday night.

Al Horford added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Celtics, who were playing without All-Star Isaiah Thomas. Boston's point guard sat the first game of a two-game road trip. Thomas, second in the NBA in scoring with 29.2 points per game, bruised his right knee in Wednesday night's win over the Minnesota Timberwolves after a hard fall.

Boston moved within two games of the idle Cleveland Cavaliers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Brook Lopez led the Nets with 23 points and Randy Foye added 14 for Brooklyn.

Crowder, who also had 12 rebounds, hit a 3-pointer to give Boston an 88-85 lead with 3:36 left in the fourth, and then drove baseline for a dunk to extend the lead to 90-85 before he was fouled by Brooklyn's Spencer Dinwiddie with 2:51 remaining. After a Nets timeout, Crowder completed the three-point play with a free throw to extend the lead to six points.

After Horford's 19-foot jumper made it 93-85, Lopez and Dinwiddie led an 8-0 run to cut Boston's lead to just two, 93-91, with 44 seconds left.

A pair of free throws by Marcus Smart made it 95-91 before Jeremy Lin knocked down a 12-foot shot that drew the Nets within two again with 16 seconds to go.

Smart then made a pair of free throws that extended Boston's lead before Foye drew the Nets within two points with a layup. Bradley then hit the second of two free throws to cap the scoring.

Associated Press