Doubtful in the Afternoon, Decisive at Night
Nobody was sure Jayson Tatum would even suit up. Boston had played the night before against Chicago, and his status for the Brooklyn game stayed open until late. He played, and he finished it.
Tatum hit a 17-foot jumper at the buzzer in overtime to give the Celtics a 125-124 win over the Nets at TD Garden, early this morning. He ended with 40 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds, and he did not turn the ball over once. Brooklyn, still hunting its first win of the season, had no answer for the last possession.
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A Night Spent at the Line
The shooting line was ordinary: 10 of 20 from the field. The damage came at the free-throw line, where Tatum went 18 of 22. He kept attacking contact, and Brooklyn’s defense wore down possession by possession until the extra period.
The Nets lost Egor Demin during the game with a right leg injury and still kept pushing. Nolan Traore, the 20-year-old French guard, started and scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, nine of them in the first quarter, and added two steals. It was his second-best scoring night of the season after 17 at Indiana on Sunday.
What Paul George Saw
After the game, Paul George kept it simple. “We got the ball to the MVP and he took us home,” he said. Tatum’s numbers back him up: since 1996-97, no player with at least 60 attempts has a higher field-goal percentage on shots to tie or take the lead in the final 24 seconds.
The Garden also had a second chant going. Fans serenaded Derrick White with MVP calls, and Tatum liked it. “They know what winning basketball is,” he said of the crowd.
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