The Nets followed their worst outing of the season with their best Tuesday night.
asserted
Nets → follow → night
The Nets fell 125-124 in overtime to the Celtics before a sellout crowd of 19,156 at TD Garden, losing on a Jayson Tatum midrange winner at the OT buzzer.
asserted
Nets → fall → buzzer
Losing a game they appeared to have won.
asserted
they → lose → game
The Nets had come back to force overtime.
asserted
Nets → come → overtime
Rookie Mikel Brown Jr. had 13 points in the fourth quarter, including a game-tying 3-pointer with three-tenths of a second left in regulation to force OT.
But he missed a pair of layups late in overtime, including an inadvisable attempt with the shot clock off that gave way to Tatum’s heroics.
asserted
that → have → heroics
Julius Randle — who’d scored a dozen in that fourth-quarter comeback — hit the first two buckets of the extra stanza to give the Nets a 121-117 lead.
asserted
who → score → lead
But he fouled out with 24 points, while Michael Porter Jr. added 27.
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Jr. → foul → 27
But neither could match Tatum, who poured in a game-high 40 points, eight assists, five rebounds and a career-high 18 (on 22 attempts) from the free-throw line.
uncertain
who → match → line
And the 17-foot winner that sent the Nets to a heartbreaker.
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that → send → heartbreaker
Brooklyn was clinging to a 124-123 edge when Brown missed a driving layup, and center Day’Ron Sharpe was initially whistled for a loose-ball foul with 6.1 seconds to play in overtime.
asserted
Sharpe → cling → overtime
But after coach Jordi Fernández called a timeout to challenge, the call was reversed to a foul on Luka Garza.
asserted
call → call → Garza
Brown missed another layup attempt, the unnecessary one, and Boston rebounded with 2.3 seconds to go.
asserted
Boston → miss → seconds
The Nets shouldn’t have switched on the last play, but did.
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Nets → switch → play
The mistake cost them, missing Noah Clowney’s size on Tatum.
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mistake → cost → Tatum
The Celtics star was too big for Keon Ellis and that made the difference.
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that → make → difference
Egor Dëmin was forced out of the game in the first half with a right leg contusion.
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Dëmin → force → contusion
After appearing to knock legs with Paul George while defending the latter’s drive, Dëmin came up hobbling on Brooklyn’s ensuing possession.
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Dëmin → appear → possession
The young Russian checked out with 2:22 left in the half, limped into the locker room and was ruled out for the rest of the night shortly thereafter.
asserted
Russian → check → night
The Nets took a 61-56 edge into intermission and spent the second half trying to protect it.
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Nets → take → it
Brooklyn forced 10 turnovers and held the Celtics to 2-of-16 shooting from deep.
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Brooklyn → force → deep
They were riding shooting luck that was never going to last.
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that → rid → luck
Still clinging to a 77-70 cushion with 6:40 left in the third quarter after a Randle free throw, the Nets went ice-cold.
asserted
Nets → cling → throw
They conceded an 11-2 run over the next 5 ½ minutes, with Tatum’s 3-pointer leaving them in an 81-79 hole.
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pointer → concede → hole
The Nets surged back ahead, and Randle put them up 109-104 with 3 minutes left.
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Randle → surge → minutes
But they couldn’t hold it.
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they → hold → it
Boston went on a 10-2 run, with Brooklyn’s only points a strong drive by Brown to knot the score at 111-all with 44.9 seconds to play.
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points → go → seconds
But when Tatum found Derrick White for a go-ahead and-one 11 seconds later, the Nets trailed 114-111.
asserted
Nets → find → ahead
Porter missed a 3-pointer, and even after Brooklyn grabbed the offensive rebound, Randle couldn’t get a clean look and lost the ball.
asserted
Randle → miss → ball
It swung to Chaney Johnson, who had a strong game but missed a potential tying corner 3.
asserted
who → swing → 3
Boston could have iced it at the line at 117-114, but Mitchell Robinson missed two free throws with 3 seconds left in overtime, setting up Brown’s game-tying 3.
uncertain
Robinson → ice → 3
The Aporia
