BOSTON — Sunday’s nationally televised game at TD North Garden started inauspiciously for the Nets.
On the opening possession, Boston’s Jayson Tatum fed Robert Williams III with a perfect alley-oop pass for a dunk.
Then former Celtics star Kyrie Irving – who was booed the moment he laced up his sneakers and every time he touched the ball thereafter – threw a behind-the-back pass to no one. It bounced out of bounds on the baseline.
From there, the two would-be Eastern Conference powerhouses staged a game worthy of a national audience.
The fans’ focus was on Irving, but the game was a scoring duel between Tatum and Kevin Durant.
Tatum won the individual battle with a season-high 54 points to Durant’s 37 and the Celtics won the game, 126-120.
Asked the difference in the outcome, Irving said: "Jayson Tatum."
Nets coach Steve Nash, who returned after missing three games following a positive COVID-19 test, had a more nuanced take.
"I think [it was] the fourth quarter," he said. "We didn’t execute down the stretch. We were talking about it with the group: I mean, we looked like a brand-new team that hasn’t played together as a group and they look like a team that knew exactly what they were doing."
In a game that featured 28 lead changes, Seth Curry gave the Nets their final one at 111-110 with a three-pointer with 3:29 left. Tatum scored Boston’s next six points and the Celtics went on to their 14th win in their last 16 outings.
The Nets, who fell under .500 at 32-33, have lost four straight and 17 of 20. The have the same record as Charlotte, but are in ninth place in the East because of tiebreakers. The Nets visit Charlotte on Tuesday.
" ‘Concerned’ and ‘worried’ — those words, it's easy to do that," Durant said. "It's easy to be concerned, easy to be worried and [ticked] off and mad. Easy to do that. We can point fingers and blame our season on other things, but let's just go play. We’ve got another game. We’ve got 17 more and let's see what happens at the end. We just take it a day at a time. A day at a time and I'm confident in this group."
Even with the serious injuries he has sustained over his career, Durant became the 23rd player in NBA history (and seventh fastest) to hit the 25,000-point mark with a jumper in the fourth.
"It’s pretty cool," Durant said. "I should be at 30 right now, to be honest with you."
Irving finished with 19 points and six assists in 37 minutes. Bruce Brown added 16 points and LaMarcus Aldridge had 14 for the Nets.
All five Boston starters scored in double figures.
It was the second game back for Durant after a knee injury. It was the fifth time Durant and Irving have played together this season. They will get two more opportunities on this road trip in Charlotte and then on Thursday in Philadelphia. The Nets return home to face the Knicks on Sunday; the unvaccinated Irving is still ineligible to play home games under New York City’s current COVID-19 rules.
Of getting booed in Boston – mostly because he promised to re-sign with the Celtics and then didn’t – Irving said: "I know it's going to be like that for the rest of my career coming in here . . . But the reality is that I'm just grateful for my time here in Boston."
The Nets lost Cam Thomas to a back contusion in the second quarter. Nash said he did not know the severity of the injury.
