Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics celebrates a 109-103 win against the Brooklyn Nets during Game Three of the Eastern Conference First Round NBA Playoffs at Barclays Center on April 23, 2022 in New York City. Al Bello/Getty Images/AFP.
Jayson Tatum scored 39 points as the Boston Celtics led most of the way and beat the Brooklyn Nets 109-103 on Saturday night in New York to open a commanding three-games-to-none lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Tatum made 13 of 29 shots for his second 30-plus-point game of the series, putting the second-seeded Celtics on the verge of sweeping the seventh-seeded Nets in Game 4 on Monday. Tatum, who scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the fourth quarter, also finished with six assists and six of Boston’s 13 steals.
Jaylen Brown added 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting as the Celtics led for the final 39:58. Marcus Smart added 14 points as the Celtics shot 50 percent for the game and heard loud “Let’s Go Celtics” chants in the final minutes.
15 second-half points for Jaylen Brown help the @celtics go up 3-0 🔥
GAME 4: Monday, 7 PM ET, TNT pic.twitter.com/83MN0vYI6R
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2022
Bruce Brown led the Nets with 26 points, but superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were held to a combined 32 points as the Nets shot 50.6 percent but also allowed 37 points off 21 turnovers.
Durant and Irving each scored 16 points. Irving made only 6 of 17 shots from the field and missed all seven of his 3-point tries.
Brooklyn remained within striking distance early in the fourth before Boston began pulling away. The Nets got the lead down to 88-84 on a 3-pointer by Blake Griffin with 7:42 remaining.
However, Tatum hit a corner 3-pointer over Durant on the next possession, and Jaylen Brown banked in a 20-footer for a 93-84 lead with 6:37 to go.
Tatum helped finish it off on consecutive possessions. He drove the lane and passed the ball out to Al Horford for an open corner 3 with 4:20 remaining, and then converted a finger roll layup for a 101-88 lead with 3:52 to go.
☘️ 39 points for @jaytatum0
☘️ 6 steals (playoff-career high)
☘️ 3-0 lead for the @celtics#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel pic.twitter.com/vwW9tN7mZ3— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2022
In the third quarter, the Nets were within 75-72 when Patty Mills hit a 3-pointer with 1:15 left, but Smart converted a putback and a transition 3-pointer, and Jaylen Brown dunked to give Boston an 81-72 lead into the fourth.
Tatum scored 12 points and hit a pair of jumpers in the final 70 seconds as the Celtics grabbed a 30-25 lead after one quarter. The Celtics built a 39-27 lead on a dunk by Robert Williams III with 8:23 left, and settled for a 53-50 edge by halftime.