BSJ Game Report: Boston Celtics 126, Brooklyn Nets 120 - Jayson Tatum puts on MVP-level performance in playoff-level win

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics' win over the Brooklyn Nets, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

This was an epic battle from the beginning. Jayson Tatum (54 points) and Kevin Durant (37) dueled the whole game, and the real question was which of these guys was going to get the help from his teammates to put them over the top. In the end, it was Jaylen Brown who hit the big shot to put the Nets away.

Box Score

HEADLINES 

What a great game: That was a basically full-strength Nets team and Durant operating at full strength. The Celtics hung in, absorbed Brooklyn’s runs, and answered each one. No one ever led by more than 9, there were 28 lead changes and 19 ties. The crowd, still harboring a grudge against Kyrie Irving, was loud from the tip, creating an electric atmosphere, and the clutch plays at the end made it a really fun afternoon. 

“Oh man, bedlam. Bedlam, a state of uproar. That’s exactly what it was,” Marcus Smart said. “It was chaos. It was good chaos. It was a fun game, a fun five minutes to be a part of. A very competitive five minutes, and as a competitor, that’s what you live for.”

Jayson Tatum earned those MVP chants: I don’t know how many times I’m going to write “wow” about what Tatum did, but this was a true MVP, playoff-like performance. He dropped 54 points on 53% shooting overall and from 3.  He had 3 assists and only turned it over twice. 

This is for real: I know I said this at the end of the last game report, but it bears repeating. This a real turnaround. This is a good team. The early season stuff is in the past. That's not to say they won’t give a stinker or two between now and the end of the season, but that's the exception now, not the rule. 

“We're improving and what we did prior to All-Star break and the streak and all those things are good, but the increased level of competition in March, we were looking forward to it,” Ime Udoka said. “Playoff caliber team and really holding ourselves to a higher standard, but measuring ourselves against some of the better teams. So regardless of the opponent, we want to play a certain way regardless of who they have until they don't. And that's carried over well from the earlier streak and before All-Star break.”

TURNING POINT

Boston’s 11-2 run in the fourth quarter was a big one because the Nets never could quite catch up. It started with a Payton Pritchard 3-pointer and grew Boston’s lead to 8, its biggest of the game. 

But the big one was the 9-2 run over 1:13 to turn a 1 point game back into an 8 point lead. Brown had 5 of those, including a 3-pointer off some beautiful ball movement. 

FOUR UP

Jayson Tatum: This is his fourth regular-season 50-plus point game, tying him with Larry Bird for the most in team history. However, he also had one in the play-in game, which is statistical purgatory. He also has one in the playoffs, which Bird did not. So this is 50-plus point game number six.

Robert Williams: Again, Williams did a bit of everything. He finished with 10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 blocks, and 2 steals. 

“I think Rob is probably the most important guy with the ceiling that we’re trying to get to,” Tatum said. “As good and as special as he can be, and just the maturity of how far he’s come, we depend on Rob a lot.”

Said Ime Udoka, “He's not necessarily a stat-sheet guy. He does so many things for us. Just his presence out there, keeping balls alive that he may not get credited for, altering shots if he doesn't block them and defending multiple positions. He's not necessarily a stat sheet guy, like I mentioned, but Rob is almost the anchor for our defense and we know how important he is.”

Jaylen Brown: That huge shot he hit capped a 21-point night, but he also added 5 assists. He seemed a bit off to start the game but he was 3-4 from 3 in the second half, and he played 35 minutes in his return from a sprained ankle.

"Felt good. Big game for us and I knew that,” he said. “Definitely wanted to come out and win against a team that's trying to build some steam headed to the playoffs. That was a good win for us. I'm glad I could be a part of it."

Al Horford: Once again we see just how important Horford can be. 13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block and he was asked to switch onto guards all night long. He’s always there when a play needs to be made.

ONE DOWN

Grant Williams: Tough night for Grant who went 0-3 from deep in this game. This is a tough matchup for him. 

TOP PLAYS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- This was a playoff win

This is the exact kind of game the Celtics are going to have to win in the playoffs. The other team is going to have some amazing players, they're going to score no matter what kind of defense is played, and the team is just going to have to figure it out. 

What are the elements to that? A star player to counter-punch, good coaching, and someone, somewhere else on the roster stepping up. 

Check. Check. Check. 

Let’s start with Tatum, who is really making a strong push not just for All-NBA, but for first or second team all NBA. 

“(Tatum) was unstoppable,” Brown said. “I think that helps with your offense, right?” 

Tatum scored 18 in the fourth quarter. He was 5-8 from the field but only 1 of those was a 3-pointer. He was 7-8 from the free-throw line in the fourth alone. 

The coaching was good too, adjusting to incorporate more blitzing to make things more uncomfortable for Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. 

“A lot of things we were doing on that defensive end were on the fly, and we were executing perfectly,” Smart said. “Against two of the greatest, that’s tough to do, especially on the fly. You have a place, we’re switching, we have mismatches all over, and we’re helping each other out. And that shows the best of a good team, and that’s what we’re becoming — a really, really good team. And when you’ve got a team that’s locked in, we feel like we can beat anybody.”

And the others, like Brown with his clutch play down the stretch, or Pritchard with a huge 3-pointer to help trigger a fourth-quarter run, or even Smart who moved the ball well and assisted on Brown 3 and later hit a game-sealing layup. Daniel Theis came up with some huge plays down the stretch to hold the Nets off. 

Tatum and Brown had 26 in the quarter but the Celtic scored 37, and the 7 point difference in the quarter all came from Boston’s bench. 

This game, maybe more than any other, really seals how different this team is playing. This is the team we thought they’d be. They have a superstar, a second star, and enough guys who can make plays to make them dangerous to any opponent. They took the best shot from Durant and Irving and answered. 

This was a playoff win. The Celtics are legit.