The Boston Celtics defeated the New Jersey Nets 83-66 behind 44 solid minutes from Gabe Pruitt. Kendrick Perkins led the Celtics with 18 point and 9 rebounds. Ryan Anderson scored 20 for the Nets. A few postgame notes:

• Pruitt was the talk of evening as Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce sang his praises. KG pointed out that Pruitt goes up against Pierce, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo every day in practice, naturally improving any player. “Playing against the Truth, giving him a good taste of what the Truth is all about will make you better,” he said.
• Nets head coach Lawrence Frank gave kudos to Perkins and called him “dominant presence in the game.” He also noted that his team got caught up in rotations, weren’t hitting their shots (31.9% FG), and failed at keeping the Celtics off the glass.
• On that note, the Celtics outrebounded the Nets 56-29. Pruitt (12 rebounds) grabbed more boards than Nets starting big men Bobby Simmons, Yi Jianlian, and Brook Lopez combined.

The Celtics will take on the New York Knicks on Tuesday night in NYC.