Time, TV, ratings and notes

The Nets have started to find themselves, shutting out the Grizzlies at home on Monday night and have now won three of their last four contests to get back to .500.

Ben Simmons and Nic Claxton both practiced on Wednesday. Claxton made his first start since returning from a hamstring injury on Monday, while Simmons, who is dealing with a back injury, sat out the second game of a back-to-back series on Monday.

If Simmons is fit, it will be the first time he has played in front of the TD Garden crowd since April 6, 2021.

The game starts at 7:30 p.m. Here is your preview.

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m

Where: TD Garden, Boston

TV, radio: NBCSB, WBZ-FM 98.5

Line: Boston -13.5. O/U: 225.0.

NETS

Season balance: 4-4. vs. distribution: 6-2. Over/Under: 4-4

Last 10 games: 4-6. vs. distribution: 7-3. Over/Under: 5-5

Celts

Season balance: 7-2. vs. distribution: 5-4. Over/Under: 4-4, 1 push

Last 10 games: 8-2. vs. distribution: 6-4. Over/Under: 4-5, 1 push

Statistics of the day: The Celtics are 11-1 against the Nets in the teams' last 12 meetings since their first-round playoff series in 2022.

Notes: Nets coach Jordi Fernandez spoke confidently about Simmons' ability to hit a higher number of shots, as he did as an All Star for the 76ers. “He’s getting to where he needs to be physically and those attempts need to be stepped up,” he said. “I’m not interested in make-misses. I just want to see the rising shots. He's more than capable of doing it, so he'll definitely do it.” …Dennis Schroder has parlayed his success at the Paris Olympics into his role with Brooklyn, averaging 19.9 points and 7.2 assists per game A shot rate of 49.0% from distance set the pace. … After the loss to the Warriors, Payton Pritchard emphasized that the defending champions' attention to detail will be crucial going forward. “It's just the little things that we'll look back on and be disappointed in ourselves because we definitely could have controlled that outcome,” he said.

Aiden Sprole can be reached at [email protected].