Jayson Tatum had a driving dunk and a 3-pointer on consecutive late possessions, pulling the Boston Celtics out of a late hole and leading them to an 87-85 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday (aedt).
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Playing without Al Horford because of a sore left knee, Boston won its sixth straight heading into its trip to London to face Philadelphia on Friday.
The Celtics were trailing by one when Tatum got the ball and drove for a powerful slam that gave them an 84-83 lead. Kyrie Irving missed on Boston's next possession but wrestled the ball away from DeMarre Carroll and got it to Tatum in the corner near the Boston bench, and his 3 made it 87-83 with 45 seconds to play.
The Nets cut it two on Joe Harris' tip and had a bunch of chances to tie in the final seconds, but missed a series of shots near the basket, with DeMarre Carroll appearing to be injured during the sequence.
Irving finished with 21 points, and Tatum added 14.
Spencer Dinwiddie had 20 points for the Nets, who were bidding for their first three-game winning streak of the season. Harris had 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Both teams shot under 40 percent, with the Celtics perhaps worn out after a draining week in which they beat Cleveland on Wednesday and Minnesota on Saturday in nationally televised games at home. But they played their usual rock-solid defense, limiting the Nets to 33 percent shooting from the field and 19 percent from 3-point range.
