BOSTON — So much can change in a few months. Before Friday night, the Nets last played at TD Garden on Valentines Day. Mikal Bridges and the gang were humiliated in a 50-point blowout. It was the team’s worst loss since moving from New Jersey to Brooklyn and Jacque Vaughn’s final act as head coach.
“Yeah, but they [were] beating the shit out of a lot of people,” Dorian Finney-Smith said.
Of course, the Celtics went on to win their 17th NBA championship while the Nets missed the playoffs, faded further into obscurity and had no first-round pick to show for it. Both teams went easy on the offseason roster adjustments, give or take a few fresh faces. Boston entered the 2024-25 season expected to find its way back to the NBA Finals. Brooklyn was projected to be one of the worst teams in the league.
The Celtics, for the most part, picked up right where they left off last season, entering Friday’s game with just two losses in their first nine tries. The Nets, led by first-year head coach Jordi Fernandez, are the ones who have refused to follow the script. They had already completed a season sweep of the Memphis Grizzlies entering Friday. They beat the Chicago Bulls, the Milwaukee Bucks and pushed the Denver Nuggets to the brink. They flaunted one of the best offenses in basketball and played just as hard as anyone on defense.
Friday was not merely a cupcake matchup circled on Boston’s schedule. It was a true test for Brooklyn, an early-season opportunity to see where they measure up against the league’s best. And while Fernandez’s team ultimately fell 107-102 in overtime, they once again proved that they are not dropping games without a fight.
For a rebuilding franchise, that means something,
The Nets raced out to a 12-0 lead and that was a statement within itself. And while they had only a two-point advantage at halftime, Boston never led in the first half and Brooklyn led by 14 at one point. Fernandez had to feel good about that. His players were giving multiple efforts, diving for loose balls and knocking down shots from all over the court. However, sustained effort and focus would be required to win a game like this.
If it were an off night for Jayson Tatum, the Celtics, who were without Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porziņģis, may have gotten ran out of their own building. But Tatum, who finished with 33 points on 11-for-25 shooting, would not be denied early or down the stretch.
The All-Star forward sprinted full court then threw down a nasty dunk over Finney-Smith and Nic Claxton to tie the game at 92 with 31.4 seconds left in regulation. After both teams exchanged free throws, Finney-Smith managed to force Tatum into a 3-point miss as time expired in the final frame, sending the game to overtime tied at 94.
The Celtics shot seven free throws in the extra session and made five of them. Brooklyn did not shoot any free throws over the final five minutes, even though they made more shots, and that proved to be the difference.
Brooklyn fell to 4-5 this season with the loss. Cam Thomas scored a team-high 31 points, Dennis Schröder added 20 points, three rebounds and three assists, and Cam Johnson contributed 18 points and eight rebounds. Ben Simmons, who came off the bench for the first time this season, had eight points, seven rebounds and eight assists off the bench.
