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After shooting a combined 9 of 32 in the first
two games and getting poked in the eye by Kevin Durant in Game
2, Tatum delivered a dazzling 16-for-30 performance from the
field. He made five 3-pointers, hit 13 of 15 free throws and
dished out seven assists.
James Harden led Brooklyn with 41 points as he shot 11 of 18 and
hit seven 3-pointers, tying the franchise postseason record for
3s.
Durant added 39 but Kyrie Irving struggled in his first
appearance in front of Boston fans since leaving the Celtics in
2019. Irving heard boos all night and profane chants at times
while being held to 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting.
Tatum reached 50 points on a crafty sequence after the Nets got
within 120-115 on two free throws by Irving with 58.7 seconds
left. With 41.8 seconds left, Tatum executed a crossover move on
Durant for a 19-footer that made it 122-115.
Durant's 3-pointer made it 123-119 with 22 seconds left but a
dunk by Grant Williams with 13 seconds remaining finished it
off.
Marcus Smart added 23 and converted the tiebreaking four-point
play with 5:11 remaining in the third. Tristan Thompson totaled
19 points and 13 rebounds while Evan Fournier chipped in 17
points as Boston overcame an early 15-point deficit and shot
50.6 percent.
The Nets sped out to a 19-4 lead but Boston stormed back and
outscored Brooklyn 29-13 over the final 8:36 of the quarter and
took a 33-32 lead on Smart's 3-pointer with 12.8 seconds left.
Boston expanded its lead to 59-49 on a layup by Tatum with 2:27
remaining and held a 61-57 advantage by halftime.
Tatum scored 19 points in the third, including Boston's final
nine points of the quarter, when the Celtics turned a 75-all tie
into a 96-84 lead going into the fourth.
--Field Level Media
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