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Australians Ben Simmons and Patty Mills have watched their Brooklyn teammates crumble to the NBA-best Boston, while Jock Landale was busy in Phoenix's win.
Jock Landale has enjoyed an extended run as Phoenix maintained the pace at the top of the Western Conference, but Patty Mills sat unused for Brooklyn as the NBA-best Boston ran amok.
Jaylen Brown had 34 points and 10 rebounds, Jayson Tatum added 29 points and 11 boards as the Celtics snapped the Nets' four-game winning streak with a 103-92 victory in New York.
The hosts were missing Australia's Ben Simmons (calf) while compatriot Mills wasn't called on by Brooklyn coach Jacque Vaughn.
The Boomers star was a shining light for the struggling Nets last season, earning a call-up to the All-Star three-point contest on the back of career-best shooting form.
But Vaughn has been reluctant to deploy Mills since replacing the axed Steve Nash, the guard playing more than six minutes just once in his last 11 games.
Simmons has missed three games due to his latest health setback but could return on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) to face the Charlotte Hornets.
Brown got the Celtics started with a 20-point first quarter and they did enough in the first meeting since they swept the Nets in the opening round of last season's playoffs.
Kevin Durant scored 31 points for Brooklyn (13-12), but committed eight turnovers, while Kyrie Irving added 18 points and eight assists.
Boston led by only two nearly midway through the fourth quarter before Al Horford made a three-pointer for his only basket of the game, then blocked Durant's shot to lead to Brown's fast-break dunk for an 85-76 lead.
Tatum had a flurry later in the period to break it open and draw loud cheers from the many Celtics fans in a crowd that also included recently retired tennis superstar Roger Federer.
Though the Celtics (19-5) have raced to the best record in the NBA, they were the only team that had more wins than the Nets' 11 since the start of November, when Brooklyn replaced Nash.
In San Antonio, Deandre Ayton had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Devin Booker and Mikal Bridges each had 20 points in Phoenix's 133-95 triumph over the Spurs.
Australian Landale, on reduced minutes despite his terrific early-season form, enjoyed a 14-minute stint and finished with 12 points on 66 per cent shooting and four rebounds.
It was the conference-leading Suns' (16-7) seventh win from their last eight games and San Antonio's 11th straight loss.
Jose Alvarado's career-high 38-point led the Pelicans to a 121-106 win over Denver Nuggets, for whom Nikola Jokic had 32 points and 16 rebounds.
Anthony Davis's numbers were even more impressive, recording a double-double consisting of 55 points and 17 rebounds in the Los Angeles Lakers' 130-119 win at the Washington Wizards.
Ja Morant's double-double (33 points, 10 assists) guided the Memphis Grizzlies to a 122-112 over the Detroit Pistons.
Elsewhere, Zach Lavine scored 41 points but the Chicago Bulls lost 110-101 to the Sacramento Kings and the Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 92-81 in New York.
