BOSTON — The MarShon Brooks Era of Celtics basketball lasted all of about six minutes.
The MarShon Brooks Era of Nets basketball, which saw its first start last night, is expected to last a lot longer.
Brooks was the 25th pick by the Celtics last June and before he was even done with his initial draft night interview, he was a Net.
“Honestly, I was like, ‘Wow, I’m at Providence, I’ll be staying close to Providence,’ ” recalled Brooks, who started last night when Deron Williams was scratched because of soreness in his right side and scored 17 points in the Nets’ 89-70 loss to the Celtics at TD Garden.. “My phone started going crazy when my name got called. Then boom! By the time I got across the stage, I was doing an interview and talking about playing with the big three when (the interviewer) said, ‘Actually you got traded to the Nets.’ I went, ‘Oh, really?’ By the time I got across the stage I didn’t know what time it was.
“I was a Celtic for all of five seconds.”
Boston picked for the Nets and swapped Brooks for JaJuan Johnson (27th pick) and a 2014 second rounder. Brooks leads all rookie scorers.
And if he was nervous for the draft, it was heightened for his first start, which ended with him leaving in the fourth quarter when he tweaked a left ankle he had injured in the first half. Brooks said he thinks he will be fine.
“It happened at the end of the first half, I tried to hit the brakes and I turned my ankle a little bit,” he said. “And then in the second half I really came down on it tough. When I tried to shoot it off the glass I came down on somebody’s foot.”
Coach Avery Johnson previously targeted tomorrow in Toronto to start Brooks, but circumstance moved up the date.
“It all caught me by surprise,” Brooks said beforehand. “It’s a great feeling. It’s a lifelong dream, coming to the NBA and actually starting. I’m a little nervous.”
Brooks said he did not call his mother, Darlyn.
“My mom played basketball so we have a different relationship,” he said. “She thinks she knows everything about the game. We have a plan we don’t talk two hours before or two hours after the game. I call around midnight.”
SF Damion James exited before halftime with a twisted right ankle. He landed on someone’s foot after a jumper.
“Just a little tweak. I landed on somebody at the end of the [second)] quarter. It’s all right,” James said. “I’ll be ready. I’ll be good Friday.”
The Nets had just two double figure scorers, Brooks and Jordan Farmar (11 points). … Celtics coach Doc Rivers on what Boston did differently in third quarter when they outscored the Nets, 29-12: “Nothing. Really. We just played better.” … Multiple sources denied reports the Nets are interested in disgruntled King DeMarcus Cousins. For starters, the Kings don’t want to trade him.
The question of the decidedly negative receptions Kris Humphries receives on the road came up again. Coach Avery Johnson praised his injured power forward for the way he has dealt with the situation.
“He’s really handled it well,” Johnson said. “He’s been a pro. He hasn’t allowed it to affect his game. He’s played hard. It’s something that we knew based on his first pre-season game in New York that he was going to have to manage all year.
“Once I figure out why they’re booing him, then we can have another conversation about it. … I don’t think the fans know why.”
Williams said it hurt when he laughed, and he didn’t want to laugh. But given the sorry state the Nets found themselves in, when Williams revealed at yesterday’s morning workout he wasn’t playing because of soreness in his side, there was a “Yeah, right” response from the media.
“It’s worse today. I’m not going to play tonight,” Williams said. “Damn, why is everybody laughing when I say that? I’m being serious today. Very serious.
“It hurts to laugh, see? Don’t make me laugh.”
Just once — when Sean Williams started Game No. 7 in 2007-08 — since Kenyon Martin and Stephen Jackson both started the first game for Byron Scott in 2000-01 — has a Nets rookie started as early in his career as Brooks did last night, also in Game 7. Brook Lopez (in 2008-09, he had 25 points, nine rebounds, four blocks) and Terrence Williams (in 2009-10, he had 10 points, 12 rebounds) started in their eighth games.