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Basketball Aggregated: Yahoo Sports NBA
12 min read • 28 Oct 2026

Nets let first win slip away in heartbreaking fashion to Celtics, lose in OT, 125-124

By: Top Tipper
Nets let first win slip away in heartbreaking fashion to Celtics, lose in OT, 125-124
Aggregated news from Yahoo Sports NBA Read Original Source ↗

BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 27: Mikel Brown Jr. #0 of the Brooklyn Nets makes the game tying shot against the Boston Celtics on October 27, 2026 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images

The Brooklyn Nets got about as close you can get to your first win of the season without actually getting it tonight. It was as encouraging and heartbreaking as it sounds.

Adding to the bittersweet sentiment, Brooklyn’s prized rookie was in the driver’s seat for this one’s most pivotal moments. He took us up, down, side to side, and deeper into the night than we originally anticipated. Here’s how we got there…

The Nets began tonight’s contest with a different starting five for the first time all season, making a change at the point guard spot. No, I’m not talking about Mikel Brown Jr. As Bane harrowingly said in the opening sequence of The Dark Knight Rises, that comes later.

It was actually Nolan Traoré who made his first start of the season this evening against the Boston Celtics. And, the Frenchman looked confident and collected early on, with little-to-no hesitation attacking inside after coming around screens. He made his first four shots to put up nine first quarter points, and even left Jayson Tatum in the dust on one of his drives…

Brooklyn also got a lift from an energized Day’Ron Sharpe in the first, who’s active hands helped the Nets mount a stingy first quarter defense for a second straight game. It wasn’t another seven steal opening frame, but Boston possessions that didn’t involve Brooklyn deflections were difficult to come by.

Speaking of the Celtics, for them, this was the second half of a back-to-back, and they didn’t do much to hide it. Boston, the best 3-point shooting team coming into tonight, began the contest just 2-of-15 from deep, more often than not missing short on their attempts.

Between that, Traoré‘s aggressiveness, and impactful contributions from Mo Wagner and Chaney Johnson, who combined for 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting in the first two periods, Brooklyn controlled almost the entire first half. The only Celtic they couldn’t keep under wraps was Jayson Tatum. Shocker, right? He had a game high 16 points at half while dishing four assists, but the Celtics still trailed going into the break by five.

We’d hear more from him later, but the second half’s opening minutes were our last chance to applaud Traoré, who again came out on the attack. He had arguably his strongest take of his career only a few minutes into the third, seemingly setting the tone for another strong half…

But unfortunately, “seemingly” is the key word in that sentence. Even in Boston, a city known its historical defiance of legislation, the law of averages had to be obeyed. After their dreadful first half, the Celtics shot 8-of-14 from deep in the third, eventually retaking the lead with 1:07 to go in the period. Their second-to-last make in that frame came off the hands of a well-covered Tatum from the top of the key, which just ate you up inside.

As Boston made its run at the lead, the YES broadcast reported that Traoré asked for a sub while indicating that he had been cramping, which Fernández confirmed to be true postgame. Traoré did play a little over a minute in the fourth, but no further, and with little impact on the game. He finished with 15 points and three assists while shooting 6-9 from the field and 1-of-2 from deep.

Day’Ron Sharpe picking up his fourth foul around the time of Traoré’s exit didn’t help either. Brooklyn had found some defensive success earlier with Mo Wagner in drop coverage, although that largely just helped them take care of the defensive glass, and Boston had simply stopped missing. The Nets’ six turnovers in the period also didn’t help.

But in the fourth, The Juniors did. Michael Porter Jr. and Mikel Brown Jr. combined for 25 points in the final frame while shooting 7-11 from downtown. Some of their haves looked like they came all the way from Dorchester. They found the bottom of the net regardless…

After trailing by as many as eight in the quarter, the Nets tied things six separate times, and even snagged the lead for themselves twice, as both groups went back and forth down the stretch.

However, as time ticked away, the game slowed, and that favored the more experienced team, the home team. After Brown Jr. snuck in a high, lefty finish that knotted up the game with under a minute to play, White got free on the next possession for an and-one finish that gave his team the lead back, now with only 33 seconds to go. Then, it was time to play the foul game, and Boston didn’t seem to know the rules.

After another string of misses from Brooklyn, Tatum went to the stripe to put his team up five with three seconds to go. He made the first free throw, but then missed the second as Neemias Queta committed a loose ball foul on Randle. That put Randle at the line, needing to make one shot to pull within three, and then miss in the hope someone would coral the rebound and hit a game-tying three.

Off the miss, the ball instead found Mitchell Robinson’s hands, but that wasn’t so bad either. The career 50.7% free throw shooter proceeded to miss both of his shots at he stripe, giving the Nets the ball back and the chance to hit a game-tying three with three seconds to play. Mikel Brown Jr. did that…

And, to overtime we went. With a new lease on life, the Nets came out swinging in the extra period. Randle pitched in a quick four points to establish an early lead while Porter Jr. registered two blocked shots to help defend it. Brown Jr. kept firing away as well, hitting one triple but missing three others.

Those blanks, however, left the door open for Boston. After Brown Jr.’s next miss, Randle, again going for an offensive rebound, fouled Paul George, who sank both of the free throws from it and made it a one point game with under a minute to go.

After Brown Jr. and Tatum traded misses, the Nets still possessed a one point lead and the ball, but with 28 seconds to go. Brown Jr. drove, hoping to ice it, but missed. Day’Ron Sharpe was originally called for an offensive foul after bumping into Luka Garza while going for the rebound, but a Jordi Fernández challenge overturned it.

So, with a fresh shot clock, a lead, and only six seconds remaining, the Nets just needed to inbound the ball and run out the clock to win.

Well, they did one of those things. After getting the ball into Brown Jr., he quickly found himself under the basket, and put up a shot. He missed. The Celtics then secured the rebound, called a timeout, and let Tatum work for his own look in isolation. He did not miss…

“Obviously on that layup, Mikel, you want to dribble it out because you want to take more time out of the clock and then they’ll foul you,” Fernández said postgame. “Good intentions, but if you go for the layup, you got to make it. But even if you make it, it’s still a one possession game. But he’ll learn from it. I just told him that he was not happy with himself and it’s a lot. But the kid also was a reason why we were there. He got it going and he showed that when the big lights are bright and they’re on, he can perform. So a lot of good things, a lot of the good things as a unit, and got to move on to the next one. I know it’s tough, but I take the positives.”

MBJ put it more succinctly in a tweet…

His father and childhood coach, Chris Brown Sr. praised his son for taking accountability for the losss…

After the game, Fernández also said that Brooklyn switched onto Tatum when they weren’t supposed to, leading to a better look than what they had hoped to give up.

“We’re not supposed to switch there because we wanted to keep a bigger body on him,” Fernández said. “We did switch. He bumped. Keon tried to contest and he got a shot that he can make… We wanted to maintain the matchup on Tatum with Noah Clowney because he’s big… And then he bumped and then he shot over. And then Keon, who was on the ball, was supposed to track and contest that or help a little bit because we knew that most likely the shot was for him.”

For Tatum, it was one of his biggest moments since coming back from his torn achilles late last year. He finished with 40 points, eight assists, and five rebounds while shooting 10-20 from the field. He also made 18-22 free throws.

For Brown Jr., who finished with 17/5/5 while shooting 5-17 from the field and 4-11 from three, it was the epitome of a “rookie moment.”

For the Nets, though, it’s just another loss.

Final: Boston Celtics 125, Brooklyn Nets 124 (OT)

Injury Update

Egor Dëmin exited this one in the second quarter and was later ruled out with a right leg contusion. He appeared to bump into Paul George, which may have caused it. However, he brushed it off postgame, telling Erik Slater of ClutchPoints it’s nothing serious and he’d be good to go in a couple of days.

As mentioned, Fernández also confirmed postgame that Traoré had been cramping.

“Yeah, he was cramping and then I felt like he was not moving well,” Fernández said. “And as you guys know, Nolan is a guy that has great energy, can touch the pain anytime. And just for that reason, I felt like I didn’t want to change anything. And I know he wanted to because he wanted to battle through it, but I almost just felt like I had to save him for myself.”

Traoré dealt with muscle cramps that last year as well. If there’s anything more to related to his health, we’ll update this report.

Next Up

Do you care about the NBA Cup yet? Either way, it’s coming to a TV or arena near you soon. Brooklyn will play its first Cup game of the year at home on Friday night against the Detroit Pistons. The Nets went 1-4 against Cade Cunningham and company last year. Brooklyn is 5-7 all-time in NBA Cup play. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST.

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