Three Studs, Three Duds As Celtics Claw Out OT Win Over Nets

Rarely did the Boston Celtics lose at home last season and coming off a nail-biting loss to Steve Kerr, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, the page needed to turn as the Brooklyn Nets arrived in town for a Friday night matchup at TD Garden.

The Celtics did that successfully by overcoming the feisty Nets, 108-104 in overtime, although it wasn’t easy by any stretch.

Boston’s absence of Jaylen Brown proved to be a major challenge once again, especially in the early stages of setting the tone offensively. Nevertheless, Jayson Tatum led the way alongside a few timely contributions to ensure Brooklyn would make its exit from TD Garden with a trip to the loss column.

Here are three studs and three duds from Celtics-Nets:

STUDS
Jayson Tatum
Another night, another leadership performance from Tatum, who led all scorers with 33 points on 11-of-25 shooting, including 5-of-13 from three with nine rebounds and six assists. Tatum’s highlight moment came in the final seconds of regulation when he ferociously dunked over Brooklyn’s 6-foot-11 center Nic Claxton to put the Celtics ahead of the Nets, 94-92.

In overtime, Tatum assisted Al Horford on a pivotal go-ahead 3-pointer and then sunk a clutch turn-around mid-range shot on the very next possession.

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Cam Thomas
Thomas has all the confidence in the world to take as many shots as necessary to keep the Nets competitive against anyone in the league. That translated into a team-high 31 points for the 23-year-old, who shot 11-for-22 from the field and 4-for-9 from 3-point range with three rebounds, one assist and one steal.

Jrue Holiday
It took a while for Holiday to get going, but the two-time champion came through in a timely fashion for the Celtics when they needed it the most. Holiday scored 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including a not-so-strong 0-for-4 from 3-point territory. But Holiday used his size when needed to get to the rim and back defenders down while also racking up five assists in 38 total minutes.

DUDS
Boston’s (slow) fist-quarter start
The Celtics inadvertently handed the Nets a head start, struggling severely to get any scoring momentum going. Brooklyn jumped ahead with a game-opening 9-0 run that prompted Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla to call a quick and early timeout, which extended to a 12-0 run before the Celtics finally got on the scoreboard. On the bright side, Boston’s poise in sticking with the adverse moment saw the Celtics turn a double-digit deficit into trailing by a feasible 28-24 margin heading into the second frame.

Xavier Tillman Sr.
Mazzulla got creative and gave Tillman the start, paired up with Al Horford in Boston’s frontcourt. It didn’t pay off at all. The 25-year-old backup got off to an even slower start than the Celtics did as a team in the game’s first three-plus minutes. Tillman airmailed a 3-point attempt from the corner and remained scoreless for the six minutes Mazzulla took him on the floor as Tillman finished 0-of-3 from the field with no rebounds, assists or blocks, registering a minus-14 rating.

A squandered night in the office.

Ben Simmons
The downfall of the NBA’s No. 1 overall pick from the 2016 draft continues to live on. Simmons played 21 minutes off Brooklyn’s bench, behind Dennis Schröder, and logged another performance that — relative to Simmons’ drowning expectations — could be considered solid. Simmons scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting — no shots from three, of course — with five rebounds and seven assists, but also committed three turnovers which led all of Brooklyn’s reserves and tied for a team high in miscues.