The only good thing that happened for the Nets was no one got hurt in their 118-86 humiliating loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night at TD Banknorth Garden, although early it appeared Vince Carter did.

Carter went to the locker room in the first period for medical attention after ex-Net Brian Scalabrine rolled on his leg and got him just above his right ankle. Carter returned, though.

He got up, but might as well have stayed down and taken the rest of the night off. He missed nine of 10 shots and scored four points in the Nets' most lopsided loss of the season.

Carter wasn't alone. The Nets were bad on both ends of the court and trailed the reigning NBA champs by as many as 33 in the fourth period.

"We didn't have too much fight-back and it's a little disheartening for us," said Devin Harris, whose 17 points led the Nets. "But it's a good lesson for us learn. Obviously we've got a lot of work to do."

Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo outplayed Harris. Rondo had 11 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds. Harris' line included six turnovers and only three assists.

The Nets (19-20) lost every battle in this game, individually and collectively. They shot just 26-for-67 (38.8 percent) and committed 20 turnovers. They also let the Celtics shoot 44-for-78, including 12-of-22 from three.

So much for the Celtics struggling. Most teams would love to have their problems. This was just their fifth win in their last 12 games, but third in a row and improved their record to 32-9. Harris said this game showed the difference between the two teams.

"Yeah, definitely," he said. "Defensively they got after it a little bit. We kind of lost our way a little bit. We had been making strides but we took a couple of steps back."

The Nets will see the Celtics again in three days. First, though, the Nets host Portland tonight and then after Boston on Saturday, they're at New Orleans and San Antonio. The Nets know this could happen again and again and again if they don't execute better and play smarter and with more fight.

"That's what's disappointing," coach Lawrence Frank said. "When talent works hard like that and you can't stay at the level, you get embarrassed. They're a talented team that outworked us and as a result we got embarrassed."

Things went so badly for the Nets that when Rondo tried to toss an alley-oop lob to Kevin Garnett (20 points) in the third period, the pass went in the basket. The third was when things really went south for the Nets.

A 10-point halftime deficit became an 88-60 hole after three quarters. Paul Pierce, who finished with 22 points, was 5-of-5 from three in the third. Overall, the Celtics scored one fewer point from deep (18) than the Nets did in the third period.

"They kicked us real good," Frank said. "Ten-point game at half and then third quarter they just knocked us down."

The Nets never got up. They lost their fourth straight road game and suffered their first double-digit road defeat since Nov. 25.

Rookie Brook Lopez, coming off a career-best 31 points against Oklahoma City, started 1-for-11 and scored just 13. Carter misfired on his last seven attempts. He said his ankle affected his play, but doesn't expect it to keep him out tonight.

"It was just hard to get moving," he said. "It was kind of sore, kind of tough to push off on it, but I wanted to play."

The Celtics were the ones who looked as if they wanted to play ? and win.

E-mail: iannazzone@northjersey.com