Recap: Tatum Scores 50 as Celtics Get Back in Series, Beat Nets 125-119
AP Photo | Elise Amendola
Jayson Tatum scored 50 points and Marcus Smart added 23 points to lead the Boston Celtics to a 125-119 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. With the win, Boston cuts the Brooklyn lead in the best-of-seven series to 2-1.
Tristan Thompson had a monster game as well with 19 points and 13 rebounds (nine offensive). Evan Fournier chipped in with 17 points as the Celtics got their first win over the Nets this season.
Brooklyn’s James Harden finished with 41 points, seven rebounds, and 10 assists and Kevin Durant scored 39. Kyrie Irving, playing his first game in front of the Boston faithful since his departure from the team, added 16 points on 6-17 shooting.
Brooklyn came out of the gates on fire and threatened to make a runaway of it by jumping out to a 19-4 lead just four minutes into the game. The Celtics then woke up from their early game nap with Tatum scoring 13 and Smart adding nine as they closed out the first quarter on a 10-0. The C’s led 33-32 at the end of the period.
Tatum continued to attack in the second where he scored eight points but got plenty of help from Thompson (eight points and six rebounds) as he dominated the offensive glass with boards and putbacks. Fournier scored nine points in the quarter as the Celtics took a 61-57 lead into the break.
Tatum then took over in the third quarter by dropping 19 points in a variety of ways, attacking any Nets defender in front of him. The Celtics then used a 9-0 run late in the quarter to take a 94-79 lead on a Tatum 3 pointer with two minutes left in the quarter. Tatum hit another jumper before Harden made two free throws. Irving then hit a jumper as the Celtics ended the third period leading 96-84.
Tatum scored 10 points, Fournier had seven points, and Thompson and Kemba Walker, who struggled shooting the basketball but grabbed eight rebounds, hit a jumper to give Boston a 116-105 with 3:36 left in the game. Brooklyn cut the lead to 120-115 on two free throws from Irving with 58 seconds left. Fournier hit one of two charity tosses and Grant Williams got free for a dunk with 13 seconds left to seal the win.
The Celtics now welcome 17,000 fans to TD Garden for their Game 4 on Sunday night. The number will be over triple what the team had in the arena for Game 3 (5,000 fans). Game 4 tips off at 7:00 PM EST on TNT.
