Mikel Brown Jr. Vows to Bounce Back After Late Mistakes in Nets' Overtime Loss
The Brooklyn rookie forced overtime with a clutch shot against Boston before taking the blame for late miscues.
Mikel Brown Jr. experienced a dramatic swing of fortune on Tuesday night at TD Garden, hitting a game-tying shot to force overtime before enduring costly miscues in the closing seconds of the Brooklyn Nets' 125-124 loss to the Boston Celtics. The 20-year-old rookie guard took full accountability after the game for his execution down the stretch, which opened the door for Celtics star Jayson Tatum to sink an overtime jumper as the final buzzer sounded.
Brooklyn appeared headed for defeat near the end of regulation after Boston rallied late to grab the lead. However, a sequence of Celtics errors gave the visitors an unexpected opportunity to salvage the game. After Boston center Neemias Queta picked up his sixth foul and Mitchell Robinson missed two consecutive free throws, Brown capitalized by drilling a clutch three-pointer with just 0.2 seconds remaining on the clock to tie the score and push the contest into an extra session.
In overtime, Brooklyn initially took advantage of a cold shooting stretch from Boston to build a four-point advantage. The Nets' offense subsequently stalled, failing to register a single point after Brown sank a three-pointer with 2:01 remaining. The rookie took and missed Brooklyn's final five field-goal attempts of the night, culminating in two missed layups during the final six seconds of action while the Nets still had a chance to seal the victory.
Rather than slowing the pace to run out the clock or draw an intentional foul, Brown drove into traffic and missed a contested shot over veteran forward Paul George. George secured the defensive rebound and immediately called a timeout to set up Boston's final offensive possession. On the ensuing inbounds play, Tatum shook off both Brown and Keon Ellis to connect on a pull-up jumper from the left elbow at the horn, securing the win for Boston.
Despite the agonizing finish, Brown demonstrated composure off the court by publicly owning his errors. "That one is on me, Brooklyn! I'm going to shake back. I promise y'all that," the rookie wrote on social media after the game. In his postgame locker room comments, the first-round draft pick added: "It's a broken play. I blame me. We weren't supposed to switch that and I switched it. Made a couple of mistakes down the stretch that hurt us. So I'm going to take the blame for it, learn from it and get prepared for the next game."
Tatum's buzzer-beating shot capped an exceptional 40-point outing for the Boston forward, who also logged eight assists, five rebounds, one block, and zero turnovers in 42 minutes of play. Tatum sank a career-high 18 free throws on 22 attempts and became just the second player in Celtics history, alongside Hall of Famer Larry Bird, to record at least 40 points, eight assists, and zero turnovers in a single contest. The game-winner was Tatum's first since returning from Achilles surgery performed in March.
The wild victory improved the Celtics to 3-1 on the season and extended their winning streak to three games heading into a Friday matchup against the Chicago Bulls. Brooklyn dropped to 0-4 following the defeat, though Brown's late-game heroics in regulation provided a glimpse of his offensive upside alongside the learning curve of his debut NBA campaign.