The Celtics beat the Nets 130-126 in a double overtime thriller Friday in Brooklyn, as the victory required Hugo Gonzalez to hit a massive 3-pointer. The Celtics improved to 28-16. The Nets dropped to 12-31.
The Nets clearly came to play Friday after getting housed by the Knicks in their last game. Brooklyn led for most of the night, only for Boston to pull away in the fourth quarter. But that’s when the clutch magic started showing up for both teams.
The first time overtime was forced by the Nets, erasing a 10-point lead in roughly three minutes at the end of regulation. Then all looked lost for the Celtics at the end of the first overtime. But Gonzalez, helped by a late move by C’s coach Joe Mazzulla, hit the clutch 3-pointer to force the second overtime. Finally, the Celtics came out on top in the end Friday.
Jaylen Brown had a triple-double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. Payton Pritchard added 32 points to lead the C’s in scoring. Hugo Gonzalez had 10 points and seven rebounds, including the big 3-pointer. Michael Porter Jr. had 30 points and eight rebounds for the Nets, while Nolan Traore had 21 points off the bench.
The Celtics face the Bulls at 8 p.m. Saturday in Chicago for the second night of a back-to-back. Here are four takeaways from Boston’s win over Brooklyn:
The rookie comes up big: The Celtics originally looked like they were ready for their final play of the first overtime, only for Mazzulla to make a late substitution. He summoned Gonzalez off the bench, giving him a few instructions on what to expect from the play. The move ended up working perfectly. Baylor Scheierman found Gonzalez in the corner on the inbounds pass, then Gonzalez drained the 3-pointer. It was an early highlight of Gonzalez’s career. Friday ended in a great showing from the rookie after he made an early mistake that led to him getting subbed out.
Grinding out the clutch victory: It looked like the Celtics were going to head to another close loss late in the first overtime, but they had just enough plays to overcome the Nets. Gonzalez hit the crucial 3-pointer and will get some headlines. But the C’s needed contributions everywhere against a feisty Nets squad. Brooklyn lost by 54 points last game, so it was clear the Nets weren’t about to have another downer. Despite all that, the Celtics found a way to win after some late-game magic.
Two-way guys see action: The night started with Ron Harper Jr. getting his first bit of rotation minutes this season, then it ended with big man Amari Williams with a highlight block. Both Neemias Queta and Luka Garza fouled out over the course of the game, which pushed Williams into action in double overtime. Williams had the empathic block on Traore to finish out the victory. It was an impressive showing from the two-way guys considering they haven’t played much this season. But they made the most of their opportunities Friday.
Back-to-back awaits: The Bulls ended up being a winner from Friday’s game considering the Celtics had to lean on their guys heavily in double overtime. Brown finished with 46 minutes played, Pritchard had 40 and Hauser had 39. Derrick White got the night off for rest, so he should be good for Saturday in Chicago. But the Celtics will have to dig deep after Friday’s double overtime victory. There’s a chance they rest some guys, but that won’t be known until the injury report is released Saturday afternoon.
