Jayson Tatum Scores 40, Hits OT Buzzer-Beater vs Nets

Jayson Tatum buried a 17-foot jumper as the overtime horn sounded, finishing a 40-point night and giving the Boston Celtics a 125-124 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday at TD Garden.

That is three straight wins for Boston (3-1), which hasn't lost since blowing a 22-point lead in its opener at Detroit. Tatum went 10 of 20 from the field and 18 of 22 at the line, with eight assists and zero turnovers in 42 minutes, according to the AP and the NBA.com box score. Brooklyn falls to 0-4.

How Jayson Tatum's buzzer-beater happened

This game should have ended in regulation. With 33.7 seconds left, Derrick White slipped behind the defense, Tatum found him for a dunk, and White finished the and-one for a 114-111 lead. Then Mitchell Robinson missed two free throws with 3 seconds left, and Nets rookie Mikel Brown Jr. made Boston pay with a tying 3 at 0.2 seconds.

Brown, the No. 6 pick out of Louisville, almost won it in overtime too. He missed a layup with 2.3 seconds left, and that set up Tatum for the winner. Celtics fans who had already lived through the Robinson free throws got the payoff they wanted.

Robinson, a career 50.7% free-throw shooter, went 1 of 4 from the line and is now 2 of 8 this season. Expect teams to keep testing that late.

Boston's offense ran through Tatum

The Celtics were ugly from deep early, going 2 of 16 from 3 in the first half, and still only trailed 61-56 at the break. Tatum lived at the free-throw line all night with 22 attempts, and Boston shot 9 of 22 from deep after halftime. Paul George added 20 points and seven assists, White had 16 points and seven assists, and Jordan Walsh chipped in 15.

Neither team led by more than eight all night. Brooklyn went up 109-104 on a Julius Randle bucket with 2:57 left in regulation before the Celtics rallied. If you watched the fourth quarter and the extra period, you saw a team that leans on Tatum as both the scorer and the guy creating for everyone else.

Nets keep losing close ones

Michael Porter Jr. had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the Nets and hit six 3s. Randle scored 24 with nine rebounds, and Brown finished with 17. Brooklyn hosts Detroit on Friday, while Boston hosts Chicago the same night.

Tatum is carrying a huge usage load right now: 20 shots, 22 free throws and eight assists in one night. Smacktok pick: lean higher on Jayson Tatum's points against Chicago on Friday.