Jayson Tatum finished a lay-up at the buzzer to lift the second-seeded Celtics to a 115-114 victory during Game 1 against the Brooklyn Nets.
It capped an incredibly hectic final possession for the Celtics.
Jaylen Brown had the ball in transition with the time ticking down, passing the ball across the court to Marcus Smart at the 3-point line. The Celtics veteran guard, with 3.4 seconds left, then shot-faked a pair of Brooklyn defenders before finding Tatum cutting to the paint. Tatum caught the ball with 1.5 left, spun around Nets guard Kyrie Irving and finished at the rim just before the light on the backboard signaled time had run out.
Boston now holds a 1-0 advantage in the best-of-seven series.
Tatum finished with 31 points and eight assists while Smart’s game-winning assist was his sixth of the game.
