Jayson Tatum keeps finding ways to torment the Nets.
Nearly a decade after the Boston Celtics landed him through the ripple effects of a 2013 deal with Brooklyn, Tatum delivered another painful reminder on Tuesday night. He buried a 17-footer at the buzzer in overtime to lift Boston past the Nets, 125-124, and leave Brooklyn still searching for its first win.
That clutch finish capped one of Tatum’s strongest games against the franchise that helped set all this in motion. He finished with 40 points and eight assists, didn’t turn the ball over once, and went 18-for-22 at the line.
The ending was as cold-blooded as the rest of his night: Noah Clowney rejected Tatum with 26 seconds left, but Boston came right back to the same man in the final seconds. Tatum slipped past rookie Mikel Brown, Jr. and ended it in front of the TD Garden crowd.
The numbers against Brooklyn are already hefty, and they keep piling up. Tatum is now 21-8 against the Nets in the regular season and 5-4 in the playoffs.
His only postseason losses to them came in 2021, when Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker were both sidelined with injuries. Across those games, Tatum has averaged 24.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 41.5 percent on threes.
What makes the whole thing sting even more for Brooklyn is where the damage came from. The 2013 trade sent Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Nets in exchange for three first-round picks and the swap that eventually landed Tatum in Boston in 2017, when the Celtics moved down from No. 1 to No.
- They also got Brown and a 2018 first-rounder they later used in the Kyrie Irving trade.
Pierce lasted just one year in Brooklyn, and Garnett was dealt at the 2015 deadline.
Since then, the Celtics have turned that haul into a championship in 2024, a trip to the Finals in 2022 and four more Eastern Conference Finals appearances. The Nets, meanwhile, are in the middle of their second roster teardown and rebuild since Tatum entered the league, and have won only one playoff series since 2014.
And Brooklyn doesn’t even get a break from Brown. Boston traded him this summer, but he ended up with another Atlantic Division team, the Philadelphia 76ers. That means the Nets still have to live with the consequences of the deal in eight games instead of four.
Tatum opened the season with a rough 6-for-23 shooting night, then erupted for 99 points over his next three games while shooting 31-for-63. Still, Tuesday’s game-winner was the shot that mattered most: one more dagger for the Nets, delivered by the player they let get away nine years ago.
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Nets Let A Winnable Road Game Slip Away At The Worst Time
Brooklyn had every reason to feel good about how it had fought its way into a tight finish in Boston, especially with rookie Mikel Brown Jr. giving the Nets a burst of life in the fourth quarter. He scored 13 points in the period, and for a stretch it looked like Brooklyn might steal a road game it had no business controlling for long stretches.
Instead, a late mistake gave the Celtics the opening they needed in a game that was already hanging by a thread. The Nets left with a 125-124 overtime loss, a brutal ending in a matchup that had been there for the taking and will linger because the final possession turned from a chance to close it out into another reminder of how thin the margin is on the road. [Read more 🡒]
Why The Nets Wanted No Part Of Jaylen Brown
When Boston came calling with a trade idea for Jaylen Brown, the Nets reportedly didnt need long to think it over. According to league insider Brian Lewis, Brooklyn passed on the offer because Browns close relationship with Kyrie Irving was part of the package, and the organization was wary of reopening old doors it had worked hard to close.
For the Nets, it was less about Browns talent than the memory attached to the move. League sources said Brooklyn wanted no part of anything that could resemble another Kyrie Irving situation, a reminder of how much the franchise still measures potential additions against the turbulence that came with Irvings stint there. Brown eventually landed with the Philadelphia 76ers, where he is playing now, but the reason Brooklyn backed away says plenty about the standards the team is applying to its roster decisions. [Read more 🡒]
Nets May Have Avoided A Bigger Egor Demin Scare
Egor Demins night ended early in Boston after he left with a right leg contusion and never returned, a frustrating turn in an overtime loss for the Nets. The injury came after a collision with Paul George, and Brooklyn was left to sort through another short-handed finish while trying to assess how much trouble its rookie guard was really in.
Demin offered a calmer read after the game, saying the issue does not appear serious and that he expects to be back in a couple of days. Even so, there was still some uncertainty about whether he would need imaging, and his availability for Fridays matchup with the Detroit Pistons remains up in the air. [Read more 🡒]