The Brooklyn Nets had Boston right where they wanted it Tuesday night, then let it slip away in the smallest possible window.
Brooklyn erased an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit, forced overtime and even built a five-point lead in the extra period, but the Celtics stole a 125-124 win at TD Garden when Jayson Tatum buried the buzzer-beating jumper. The Nets fell to 0-4, and the ending stung even more because they were one possession from their first victory of the season.
Mikel Brown Jr. nearly dragged Brooklyn across the finish line by himself. The rookie finished with 17 points, five rebounds and five assists, and 16 of those points came in the fourth quarter and overtime.
He hit the tying three-pointer with 0.3 seconds left in regulation, then kept the Nets alive again in overtime. But with 6.1 seconds left and Brooklyn still in front, Brown took a shot instead of holding the ball and forcing Boston to foul, and the miss opened the door for the Celtics.
Tatum made sure Boston walked through it. He led the Celtics with 40 points, eight assists and five rebounds, and he kept applying pressure right down to the final horn. He also attempted a career-high 22 free throws as Boston rallied from what had been a shaky shooting night for much of the game.
Brooklyn’s night began with a lineup tweak, as Nolan Traoré replaced Keon Ellis in the starting five. The move gave the Nets a quicker tempo and a more natural point guard running the offense, and Traoré came out firing. He scored nine points in the first quarter, going 4-of-4 from the field, and finished with 15 points and two steals.
The Nets put together their best first quarter of the season, scoring 31 points, and they carried a 61-56 lead into halftime. Mo Wagner supplied 11 first-half points off the bench, Chaney Johnson added 12, and Boston’s shooting helped Brooklyn stay ahead. The Celtics hit just two of their first 16 three-point attempts before the break.
Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle each had 11 points at halftime, while Tatum led Boston with 16.
The second half turned quickly. Egor Dëmin left with a right leg contusion and did not return, which pushed Ellis back into the lineup.
Boston found its range from deep, and the third quarter belonged to the Celtics. Jordan Walsh, Tatum and Sam Hauser all connected from three, and Boston closed the period on a 16-5 run to flip a seven-point hole into an 86-82 lead.
The Celtics scored 30 in the quarter; Brooklyn managed 21.
Randle, who started 0-of-6, eventually settled in and gave the Nets another source of offense. He finished with 24 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. Porter led Brooklyn with 27 points and 12 rebounds, continuing his strong start.
Boston stretched the margin to eight early in the fourth, but Brooklyn answered with a burst from long range. Porter drilled another three to put the Nets ahead 107-104, and Johnson’s layup extended the lead to five. From there, the game turned into a possession-by-possession fight.
Derrick White and Tatum helped Boston claw back, and White’s two free throws put the Celtics ahead 111-109. Brown answered with a tough left-handed layup to tie it, but White kept coming. He hit a three-point play and then added two more free throws to give Boston a five-point cushion late.
Brown wasn’t done. He knocked down two free throws and then hit the biggest shot of regulation, a three-pointer with 0.3 seconds left to tie the game at 117 and force overtime.
Brooklyn carried that momentum into the extra period. Randle scored back-to-back baskets to put the Nets up 121-117, and Brown followed with another three to make it 124-119.
But Boston kept finding answers. Tatum scored inside and then made two free throws after Randle fouled out, and Paul George added two more at the line to trim the gap to one.
That set up the final possession and the final mistake.
Brooklyn also had foul trouble all night, with Randle and Johnson both fouling out, and the Nets were whistled for 30 fouls. Johnson finished with 15 points, while Wagner also had 15 points and two steals. For Boston, Tatum’s free-throw volume and late shot-making powered the comeback.
It was a tough finish for Brown after he came within one possession of being the hero. Brooklyn had chances, responded to every Boston run and even owned a five-point lead in overtime. In the end, though, the Nets came up short again, and the final play will linger.
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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 🡒]