Celtics 109 vs 103 Nets summary: stats and highlights | NBA Playoff
The Boston Celtics are on the brink of the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs after rolling into Brooklyn and beating the Nets at the Barclays Center. Jayson Tatum exploded for 39 points in the 109-103 Game 3 victory.
Celtics D shutting down Nets' stars
The Nets needed a win coming back home after two tough games put them behind the 8-ball coming back to Brooklyn. The Celtics defense did a terrific job on Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving over the first two games, and not much changed in Game 3 on Saturday night.
Again it was Bruce Brown who had to carry Brooklyn as Durant and Irving struggled to find their rhythm. Brown is the only Nets player who has started each of the first three games hot out of the gate, but the Celtics were keeping pace on the shoulders of Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
The first quarter had 11 lead changes, but Boston took the lead just before the end of the first twelve minutes and would keep it for the final three quarters.
Nets turnovers lead to easy Celtics points
Payton Pritchard started the second quarter with seven straight points to stretch the lead to 37-25. The most unlikely of offensive sources, Nic Claxton, stepped up in the second quarter scoring four baskets before the half and sparked a 7-0 run to bring the Nets to with a point.
Turnovers hurt the Nets all night long, but it was never more evident than in the third quarter where Kevin Durant and company turned the ball over eight times and had just eight field goals coming out of the half.
Tatum turned it on in the third quarter after scoring 12 points in the first half. As well as Tatum was playing, Brown was keeping the Nets close despite another slow night for their two stars.
Tatum drops 27 in second half
Brown’s 26 points wouldn’t be enough for the Nets, who saw Irving and Durant held to 16 points a piece.
Irving picked up his fifth foul early in the fourth quarter, and that’s when Jaylen Brown took over like he has done so often in this series. He scored seven straight points when it looked like the Nets were building up a little run in the late stages of the game.
Tatum’s 39 points and Jaylen Brown’s 23 were enough to hold off the Nets, and improve to 3-0 on the series.
Brooklyn now must do something that no team in NBA history has done, win four straight after losing the first three games of a series.
The Celtics will have a chance for a clean sweep of the Nets on Monday night. Tip off from the Barclays Center is set for 7:00 p.m. ET.
AS journalist Juanma Rubio offers his take on the Nets after defeat to the Celtics left Steve Nash's team 3-0 down in the series.
Smart patient underneath to secure the late lead for the Celtics!
The Nets had 18 turnovers in Game 3, none more painful than this one out of the timeout in the fourth quarter.
Brown from the top of the key with the Harden-esque step back.
How many big buckets has Jaylen Brown had late in games during this series? Game 3 was no different.
Tatum did a little bit of everything tonight, including running the break
Horford to Tatum off the steal, and the Celtics made the Nets pay for their turnovers by getting easy buckets on the other end.
The Celtics won this game one the glass and by forcing turnovers.
Williams came back from tearing his meniscus at the end of March and had played some important minutes.
Pritchard had 10 points off the bench in the second quarter.
Tatum responded with 39 points after scoring just 19 last game.
Theis from even closer distance to set the tone for Boston.
Theis started off the night with a couple buckets to get the Celtics going.
It's all over!!! Celtics win, and improve to 3-0. They are a win away from eliminating the preseason favorites!
Kyrie for three for the final bucket of the game.
Tatum with the steal and slam to cap the game off!!
Tatum to the line with 17.2 to go. Both FTs are good.
Brown to the line, where he misses one!
Mills with the three ball in the corener. Six point game.
Mills with the three ball to cut it to single digits. Under 90 seconds to go.
Tatum wide open for the dunk and the Nets D looks like it's shot off.
Curry drills the three ball!
Brown to the line, he hits both.
Smart in traffic underneat off the Tatum assist! The lead is 15 as the Celtics are on a 7-0 run.
Tatum right down main street gets the finger roll to go and he's got 33 points. Timeout Nets with under four to go.
Horford in the corner for three and that's his first FG of the night.
Kyrie gets the mid range jumper to go for his first basket of the fourth quarter.
KD at the line after the Celtics challenge to see if Tatum did indeed hit Durant of the shot. Both FTs good
Out of the timeout Williams gets the steal, and Tatum punishes the Nets with a bucket and one. FT is goo and he's got 31. Largest lead of the game for the Celtics.
Brown on the step back, and he's got nine points in the fourth quarter. He has been making a habit of hitting big shots late in the game throughout the series.
Tatum in the corner to silence the crowd for three.
GRIFFIN FOR THREE!! He's got the hot hand!
Brown back to the rim, and he's got 7 straight Celtics points.
Brown from three over Griffin, but Griffin answers back with a three ball in the corner.
Curry on the cross over and drills the long two from the top of the key.
Brown on the hesitation move down low. 16 points no his night as the C's lead by 7.
Griffin is playing some big minutes, especially on the defensive end. He just drew a jump ball on the Tatum drive.
Irving on the bench, lets see how long he stays there.
Griffin at the line, he got two DNPs through the opening games but is getting some minutes tonight. Both FTs are good.
Irving just picked up his fifth foul. Trouble for the Nets the rest of the way. He's got to behave himself with 10 minutes left in the game.
Durant with the easy slam to start the fourth quarter.
We are headed to the final quarter and the Nets have work to do if they are going to avoid a 3-0 deficit.
Brown with the steal and the slam!!! Lead is back up to 9 after they had cut it to three points.
Smart with the steal and the pull up with a foot on the line, and a great response from The Celtics after the timeout.
Smart with the put back on the offensive boards. He's got 10 on the night.
MIlls in the corner off the assist from KD and the Barclays Center erupts as Brooklyn is back to within three. Timeout Boston with 1:14 to go in the third quarter.
Claxton with the slam, and The Celitcs seem to be dominating, but lead by just 6.
Brown on the put back, and if the Nets go on to win this game it will be because of Bruce Brown
Tatum on the release, beats everyone down the court got the lay up and got fouled by Brown. He picks up his fourth as Tatum drops the FT for the three point play.
Claxton at the line, he hits one of two.
Brown continues to keep the Nets in the game. He's got 21 on the night.
Tatum at the line and the Celtics lead by double digits after he hits one of two.
Tatum with the long ball and that stretches the lead out of 9.
Durant with a long ball
Tatum with the mid range jumper. HE's got 18 on the night.
Tatum at the line and he hits both FTs.
Brown at the line and he's got 10 after two FTs.
Irving at the line and he hit both FTs.
Brown getting going in the second half. He's got 18 on the night.
KD off the steal with the pull up.
Kyrie going into the belly of the beast and finishing at the rim.
Theis is having a very solid night. He's got 9 and 5 boards after that baseline jumper.
Tatum with the jam off the steal from Horford.
Theis in the corner for three!
We are back in play in the second half from Brooklyn!!
Tatum leads the Celtics in scoring with 12 points.
Theis got a few buckets early on to start the C's off right.
KD is trying to shake off a couple of bad shooting games.
Brown got started early , and ended 16 points after two quarters.
Tatum leads the Celtics with 12 points, and Pritchard has 10 off the bench.
Bruce Brown leads all scorers with 16, while Irving and Claxton have 10 a piece.
Smart gets the final bucket of the half to extend the lead to three going into the locker room.
Mills from the top of the key!! IT's a 1 point game with under a minute.
Claxton on the slam and he's having a big second quarter.
KD gets the elbow jumper to go.
Williams from the top of the key off the offensive rebound.
Two minutes to go in the first half.
Claxton with the tip in and hes got three buckets in the last couple minutes.
Williams on the lay up on the drive from the left side.
Claxton gets back to back buckets and the lead is cut to 5.
Irving gets the pull up jumper to fall.
Brown with the slam!!!
Brown with another bucket! He's got 14 points on the night.
Pritachard with three ball and he's four for four on the night.
Curry and Brown with back to back buckets to cut into the lead.
Drummond on the hook shot and the Nets get a basket for the first time in a while.
Pritchard with the step back and he's got 7 points on the quarter.
Pritchard with back to back floaters to start the second quarter.
Pritchard with the floater to start his night.
Irving ends the first quarter with a jumper. There were 11 lead changes in that opening 12 minutes.
Tatum from the baseline from the mid range.
Tatum with the floater and the Celtics lead by 5.
Brown has 10 points in the quarter
Brown with a three in the corner!!!
White with the drive of in transition.
Brown drops the three ball! Largest lead of the night.
Brown to the line, and he hits two of two.
Durant with the fade away!
Nic Claxton on the alley oop. Each team exchanging blow for blow
Brown with the first bucket of his game
Irving strong to the rack out of the timeout!
Irving going to the rack strong, and then Theis on the other end with the slam down the middle of the lane.
Tatum with another three ball!!!
Tatum introduces himself into the game with a corner three.
KD with a three ball on his first attempt of the game and the Cetlics need a timeout just four minutes into the game. Brooklyn look good offensively, but they have looked good scoring the basketball before in this series and still ended up losing the game.
Irving to the line, and he hits both FTs.
Brown in the corner for three!!! He's got a quick five points.
Theis gets the first points of the night for Boston.
Brown attacking the glass and getting the tip back. He's is making a habit of getting off to quick starts.
Irving with the first bucket of the game on a follow up on an airball from Brown. That may get taken off the board as it looked like the buzzer had already sounded.
We are underway from Barclays Center!!! The Nets looking to stay alive in the series, while the Celtics have a chance to move a game away from the second round.
Boston get their big man back
Robert Williams is back from his torn meniscus he suffered on March 27th. He was set to miss at least four week, but is making his return much sooner than expected. He averages 7.2 points and 6.6 rebounds a game.
Boston's starting five for tonight's game from the Barclays Center.
Tonight's starting five for the Brooklyn Nets. Bruce Brown has been playing great, but Brooklyn need their starts to carry them in this game. KD and Kyrie will be the reason the Nets win or lose tonight.
Utah even, Raptors stay alive
The Utah Jazz just beat the Dallas Mavericks 100-99 to take the series to 2-2. The Raptors edged the 76ers earlier today in another tight game on this playoff Saturday. It wouldn't be too surprising to see this game go down to the wire after two tight contests to start the series.
Tonight's odds
According to Bet365.com the Nets are 4 point favorites at home, with the Over/Under set at 222.5. The Nets might be the obvious choice here, but the Celtics will come out swinging looking to steal the first game in Brooklyn. I think the Nets take the best blow Boston can give tonight, and win by more than five.
Double double for JT in Game 2
Jayson Tatum had an MVP caliber end to the season, and had a fantastic Game 1. He had 31 points and the game winning shot to secure the opener. Last game he had 10 assists, but scored just 19 points as he played second fiddle to Jaylen Brown who took over late in the game.
Durant struggling
Kevin Durant has been ice cold from the field in this series. He started the first half of Game 1 2/10, and then missed his last 10 shots from the field in Game 2. "It's on me to just finish it and figure it out," Durant said. "I've just got to come back and play. Get ready to work, just keep grinding. I'm going to be expected to be aggressive throughout the rest of this series, so control some of that stuff and look at film and keep playing.
Kyrie Irving fell off in Game 2
Game 1 recap
Last game went down to the wire as the stars for each team took longer than expected to get themselves into the game. Both teams went blow for blow in the first half, exchanging the lead 17 times in the first 24 minutes. Boston and Jayson Tatum worked up an 11 point lead after two separate 9-0 runs in the third quarter gave them an 11 point lead. Brooklyn battled back to take the lead with eight minutes to go, and a tug of war ensued with Tatum and Celtics securing the final pull on the last possession of the game. The spin and lay up as time expired gave Boston Game 1.
The Celtics coming into the Barclays Center with some drip, and some swag up two games to none.
The Nets rolling up to Barclays Center showing the weekend drip.
Last Game
The Celtics came back from a 17 point first half deficit in Game 2 after role players Goran Dragic and Bruce Brown got the Nets off to a hot start. Brooklyn led all the way into the fourth quarter, but Jaylen Brown and and Jayson Tatum stormed back to take the lead midway through the fourth quarter. Once the Celtics took the lead they didn’t give it up, going on to to win 114-107.
Live from New York, it’s Saturday night
Hello everyone and welcome to Brooklyn as the Nets are fighting for their playoff lives down two games. They have been outmatched by the Celtics and are looking to avoid a 3-0 deficit tonight in front of their home fans. All eyes will be on Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to bring Brooklyn form the dead.
Celtics vs. Nets
The Nets are back in Brooklyn and looking to get back into the first round series against Boston after Celtics held on to home court advantage in the first two games at TD Gardena. AS English will be with you all night long bringing you live coverage, stats, scores and highlights of Game 3 from Barclays Center.
Last Game in Boston
The Celtics came back from a 17 point first half deficit in Game 2 after role players Goran Dragic and Bruce Brown got the Nets off to a hot start. Brooklyn led all the way into the fourth quarter, but Jaylen Brown and and Jaysont Tatum stormed back to take the lead midway through the fourth quarter. Once the Celtics took the lead they didn’t give it up, going on to to win 114-107.
Live from New York, it’s Saturday night
Hello everyone and welcome to Brooklyn as the Nets are fighting for their playoff lives down two games. They have been outmatched by the Celtics and are looking to avoid a 3-0 deficit tonight in front of their home fans. All eyes will be on Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to bring Brooklyn form the dead.
Celtics vs. Nets
The Nets are back in Brooklyn and looking to get back into the first round series against Boston after Celtics held on to home court advantage in the first two games at TD Garden. AS English will be with you all night long bringing you live coverage, stats, scores and highlights of Game 3 from Barclays Center.