Tatum's OT buzzer-beater lifts Celtics past Nets

Jayson Tatum did not need a clean look, a second chance or even much time. With 2.3 seconds left in overtime and the Boston Celtics trailing by one, he took the ball, turned toward the basket and buried a 17-foot jumper as the buzzer sounded, sealing a 125-124 victory over the Brooklyn Nets at TD Garden on Tuesday, 27 October 2026.

The shot capped a 40-point night and a third straight Boston victory, but it was only the last twist in a game neither side ever controlled for long. Neither team led by more than eight points, and the lead changed hands through a tense fourth quarter, a rookie rescue act and an overtime filled with fouls, a successful challenge and missed chances at both ends.

Tatum finished 10 of 20 from the field and made a career-high 18 of 22 free throws, adding eight assists and five rebounds. Paul George contributed 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Derrick White scored 16 points and delivered the assist on the winner, according to the play-by-play record.

Brooklyn's rookie forced overtime

Brooklyn looked beaten late in regulation. Trailing 117-114, the Nets turned to rookie Mikel Brown Jr., who scored 13 points in the fourth quarter and hit a three-pointer in the final second to force overtime. Brown, the sixth pick in the NBA draft out of Louisville, finished with 17 points.

The comeback had started earlier in the quarter. Julius Randle, who scored 12 points in the fourth, helped Brooklyn erase Boston's lead, and the Nets went ahead 109-104 on a Randle basket with 2:57 remaining. Boston responded, with Tatum tying the game on a layup before Derrick White's free throws put the Celtics ahead 111-109 with 1:40 to play.

Brooklyn had led for much of the night. A 10-0 run turned a late first-quarter deficit into a 31-26 advantage, and the Nets took a 61-56 lead into half-time despite Boston's slow start from three-point range. The Celtics made only two of 16 three-point attempts in the first half, then found their rhythm with eight three-pointers in the third quarter to carry an 86-82 lead into the fourth.

Overtime turned on one switch

Randle opened overtime with the first two baskets to give Brooklyn a 121-117 lead, but he later fouled out after scoring 24 points. Michael Porter Jr. led the Nets with 27 points and 12 rebounds, yet even that production could not protect a late one-point lead.

With Brooklyn ahead 124-123, Brown missed a driving layup with 2.3 seconds remaining. The loose-ball sequence first produced a foul call against Day'Ron Sharpe, but Nets coach Jordi Fernández challenged successfully and the foul was reversed to Boston's Luka Garza. Brown then missed another layup attempt, leaving Boston with the final possession and just enough time for Tatum.

Brown accepted responsibility afterwards. "It's just a broken play. I blame me," he said. "We weren't supposed to switch that, and I switched it." The Nets had planned not to switch on the final play, but Brown was screened off, leaving Tatum with room against a smaller defender. Team-mate Noah Clowney said the older players also had to help the rookie navigate that screen, while praising Brown for getting Brooklyn into overtime in the first place.

What the win changes

The result moved Boston to 3-1 and kept its early-season recovery on track after an opening defeat in which it had blown a 22-point lead at Detroit. For Brooklyn, the defeat was a fourth in four games, despite a performance that showed both resilience and the growing pains of a young roster.

Boston's free-throw edge told part of the story. The Celtics made 30 of 38 attempts, while Brooklyn made 17 of 22, and Tatum repeatedly reached the line when Boston's outside shooting stalled. The Nets, by contrast, made 17 three-pointers, but their late execution faltered when the game became a succession of single possessions.

There was also a lesson in the final seconds of regulation. Boston's Mitchell Robinson missed two free throws with three seconds remaining, opening the door for Brown's tying three-pointer. In overtime, it was Brooklyn's turn to rue a missed opportunity, as one ill-judged drive became the last opening Tatum needed.

Both teams now turn quickly to Friday fixtures, with Brooklyn hosting Detroit and Boston hosting Chicago. For the Celtics, the immediate reward is a winning record and a signature early-season moment. For the Nets, the consolation is thinner but real: they pushed a strong Boston side to the final shot, and their rookie showed he is not afraid of the biggest moments, even if this one also showed how unforgiving those moments can be.