The Brooklyn Nets were this close to pulling off their most impressive win of the season. Just days removed from suffering the second-worst loss in franchise history, they had the Boston Celtics - one of the league’s most consistent powerhouses - on the ropes.
Hugo González. CLUTCH.
— NBA (@NBA) January 24, 2026
Hits the triple to send the game to DOUBLE OVERTIME 🤯 pic.twitter.com/lszFiZIoiC
Up three with 2.5 seconds left in overtime, it looked like Jordi Fernandez’s squad had done enough. But in the NBA, the smallest lapse can be the difference between a signature win and a gut-punch loss.
For the Nets, it turned into the latter.
With the Celtics inbounding, the Nets had one job: protect the arc. Instead, a defensive breakdown left Hugo Gonzalez wide open in the corner. He drilled the game-tying three with 0.4 seconds on the clock, and from there, Boston took control in the second overtime, outscoring Brooklyn 12-8 to escape Barclays Center with a 130-126 win.
After the game, Fernandez called the play a “miscommunication.” Michael Porter Jr., who was directly involved in the sequence, offered more detail - and some accountability.
“During the timeout, we decided to zone up the three-point line,” Porter explained. “Everyone had a zone on the arc.
But then they came out in a different look than we expected. We thought they’d start inside the line, but they stayed high.
So in the moment, some of us weren’t sure if we were still zoning or switching to man. It was poorly executed.”
Porter tried to pass Gonzalez off to Noah Clowney, but the two weren’t aligned on the coverage. “Coach Jordi was trying to communicate from the sideline, but in crunch time, it’s chaotic,” Porter added.
“At the end of the day, it’s on us. You can’t give up a wide-open corner three with the game on the line.
We were discombobulated. We’ve got to learn from that and be better next time.”
That wasn’t the only costly lapse in overtime.
Earlier in the first OT, the Nets led by five with just eight seconds left. Boston inbounded with a full-court pass to rookie big man Amari Williams - a known liability at the free-throw line.
With both Neemias Queta and Luka Garza fouled out, Williams was a clear target. The smart play?
Foul him immediately. Instead, the Nets allowed Williams to catch and dish a quick touch pass to Payton Pritchard, who buried a three.
Just like that, the Celtics were back in it.
Pritchard was sensational all night, finishing with a game-high 32 points on 13-of-24 shooting, including 6-of-11 from deep. And when it mattered most, he delivered - capitalizing on a defensive mistake the Nets could’ve avoided.
“We’ve executed late-game situations well in a lot of games,” Fernandez said postgame. “Tonight, there were two moments where we just didn’t.
Up five, we had a chance to foul the center and probably end the game. We didn’t.
Then, the miscommunication on the three. Against a team like Boston, those mistakes come back to bite you.”
And yet, it’s hard to ignore how much fight Brooklyn showed. Down 10 with three minutes left in regulation?
They stormed back. Trailing again in overtime?
They rallied once more to take the lead. This wasn’t a team mailing it in - this was a young, hungry squad trying to punch above its weight.
Nic Claxton anchored the defense and helped hold Jaylen Brown to 9-of-27 shooting - no small feat. “We played a really good game,” Claxton said.
MPJ on the Hugo Gonzalez game-tying three:
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) January 24, 2026
-Nets drew up a zone around the 3-point line during the timeout
-Celtics came out in a different set than they expected
-Some Nets adjusted to man and some stayed in zone
A game-losing miscommunication. pic.twitter.com/7v05m5lxGi
“I feel like we deserved to win. We just didn’t execute enough down the stretch.
This one really hurt.”
Offensively, Porter led the way with 30 points, eight boards, and four assists on 9-of-19 shooting. Claxton added 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and a pair of blocks on 8-of-13 from the field.
But perhaps the biggest bright spot? Rookie guard Nolan Traore.
In his best performance of the season, Traore stepped up in crunch time, scoring 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting while logging a career-high 36 minutes. He added two assists, kept his turnovers to just two, and closed the game over fellow rookie Egor Demin - a telling decision from Fernandez.
Yes, he had a late turnover and missed a free throw just before Gonzalez’s game-tying three. But make no mistake: Traore looked like he belonged on that court.
“It can show him that he belongs here,” Claxton said of the rookie’s performance. “I remember when I first started getting those clutch minutes - it’s a good feeling, knowing you’re impacting the game.
He did a lot of good things for us - getting downhill, getting into the paint, making plays. There’s still a lot for him to learn, but we’re going to need that level of play from him moving forward.”
The loss stung - and the locker room felt it - but there’s a silver lining. The Nets continue to show flashes of growth, even in defeat.
And in the bigger picture, Friday’s result keeps them in the thick of the draft lottery race. They sit fifth in the standings, tied in wins with the Kings and just one ahead of the Pelicans and Pacers.
So while the win slipped through their fingers, Brooklyn’s young core got another taste of what it takes to close out games against elite competition. It’s a lesson they’ll carry into the second half of the season - and one that could pay off in the long run.