BOSTON — The Brooklyn Nets came within one shot of defeating the Celtics on Tuesday night, an impressive achievement that unfortunately required Jayson Tatum to miss his.
He did not.
Tatum buried a 17-foot jumper at the overtime buzzer, lifting Boston to a 125–124 victory and bringing an abrupt end to Brooklyn's latest attempt at turning a competitive basketball game into a win.
The Nets had already overcome a substantial obstacle: regulation.
Rookie Mikel Brown Jr. hit a tying three-pointer with 0.2 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, temporarily giving Brooklyn reason to believe it had successfully negotiated with the basketball gods.
The agreement, apparently, covered only the first 48 minutes.
Brooklyn then took a 124–123 lead late in overtime, leaving Boston with 2.3 seconds and Tatum with an amount of time that, historically speaking, should probably have been considered excessive.
Tatum finished with 40 points. Michael Porter Jr. led Brooklyn with 27, while Julius Randle added 24.
For a young Nets team, the evening offered plenty of positives: resilience, late-game execution and the opportunity to experience firsthand exactly how little those qualities matter when the opposing superstar gets the final shot.
The loss also provided an important developmental lesson.
Sometimes you do everything necessary to force overtime, take the lead, and put yourself in position to win.
And sometimes the other guy is Jayson Tatum.
