The Nets respect the Celtics and how they play but aren’t trying to emulate or imitate the reigning champs as much as beat them and carve out their own winning identity.

Payton Pritchard was sitting at his locker after the Celtics’ 108-104 overtime win against the Nets on Friday night when Al Horford walked past him. Pritchard smiled. John Reardon, the police chief at the time, said no one reported hearing gunshots on the quiet residential street.“It’s really strange,” he said in an interview. “Very, very strange.”

The Nets lost to the Celtics in overtime 108-104 in a game in which Boston did not get their first lead of the game until the fourth quarter. Cam Thomas had 31 points and three re