BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum buried a 17-foot jumper at the overtime buzzer to cap a 40-point night, and the Boston Celtics beat the Brooklyn Nets 125-124 on Tuesday night for their third straight victory.
Tatum finished 10 of 20 from the field and 18 of 22 from the free-throw line. Paul George added 20 points and Derrick White scored 16 for the Celtics, who have not lost since they blew a 22-point lead in their season opener at Detroit.
Michael Porter Jr. had 27 points and 12 rebounds for Brooklyn (0-4), and Julius Randle scored 24 points.
Nets rookie Mikel Brown Jr. made a tying 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds remaining in regulation. But in OT, he missed a layup with 2.3 seconds left to set up Tatum for the winning basket. Brown, the sixth pick in the NBA draft out of Louisville, finished with 17 points.
Boston’s Mitchell Robinson missed two free throws with 3 seconds left in regulation, giving Brooklyn a chance at the tying 3. Robinson, a career 50.7% free-throw shooter, went 1 of 4 from the line and is 2 of 8 this season.
With 33.7 seconds remaining in regulation, White slipped behind the defense and Tatum found him for a tiebreaking dunk. White was fouled on the play and converted the free throw for a 114-111 lead.
Neither team led by more than eight points. The Nets went ahead 109-104 on a basket by Randle with 2:57 left before the Celtics rallied.
The Celtics made 2 of 16 3-point attempts in the first half but trailed just 61-56. They fared a bit better from long range in the second half, going 9 of 22.
Up next
Nets: Host Detroit on Friday night.
Celtics: Host Chicago on Friday night.
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