Caris LeVert scored a career high 51 points on Tuesday night, as the Brooklyn Nets made an improbable comeback rallying from 21 points down in the third quarter to beat the Boston Celtics 129-120 in overtime at TD Garden.
Both teams had a lead in the first quarter. After a couple early leads by the Nets, the Celtics would lead by as many as nine on three different occasions and held a 33-28 lead after the opening 12 minutes. Brooklyn stayed within striking distance for most of the second quarter, before a three-pointer by Marcus Smart and a dunk from Daniel Theis cutting down the lane late in the period gave Boston (41-19) their biggest lead both times of 13 points. The hosts led by that margin at the break 56-43. Jaylen Brown opened the Celtics lead to 21 in the third quarter with a three and a layup, and the advantage was 84-67 headed to the fourth. After the Nets sliced the lead to 99-91 in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter, Kemba Walker buried a three-pointer and Brown made a layup to restore a 13 point lead with 4:14 to go. But Brooklyn wouldn’t go quietly. LeVert nailed one from behind the arc with 1:32 left part of a 17-6 Nets run to make it 110-108. Robert Williams III completed a three point play for Boston next time down for a five point lead. After Brooklyn cut it to three again with two free throws, Jaylen Brown hit a three-pointer that looked like it had finally put it away making it 116-110 with 56.7 seconds remaining. The Nets eventually had one more chance though down three with 1.4 seconds showing on the clock, and LeVert was fouled shooting a three-pointer by Smart and made all three from the charity stripe to send the game to the extra session.
LeVert continued his career high night in overtime. He scored all 11 Brooklyn points, as the Nets scored the first eight and never looked back in a shocking comeback win. The visitors had 67 total points in the first three quarters, then scored 63 combined between the fourth quarter and overtime. LeVert finished 17-26 from the field (5-10 three-pointers) and 12-18 from the line, also adding four rebounds and five assists. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot had 16 points, Spencer Dinwiddie 14, and Joe Harris 10 to lead Brooklyn (27-33). Brown had 22 points for Boston, while Walker had 21. Theis also chipped in 16 points, Smart with 14 and 10 assists, while Williams III finished with 10 points. The Celtics are in Cleveland Wednesday night to battle the Cavaliers.
