Caris LeVert scored a career-high 51 points, 37 from the fourth quarter on, as the Brooklyn Nets rallied from 21 points down to stun the host Boston Celtics 129-120 in overtime Tuesday.
LeVert shot 17 of 26 from the field and scored all 11 of the Nets' points in the extra period as they overcame 21 turnovers to snap a four-game losing streak. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot added 16 points off the bench for Brooklyn.
Jaylen Brown had 22 points, and Kemba Walker scored 21 in his return from five games missed with a knee injury for the Celtics, who have lost back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 16-18.
The Nets scored a franchise-record 51 points in the fourth quarter to overcome a 71-50 deficit with 6:28 left in the third quarter. They entered the fourth down 84-67.
LeVert got Brooklyn within four on back-to-back threes with 2:47 remaining. Another LeVert three trimmed Boston's lead to 110-108 with 1:32 left.
The Celtics led by three with the ball and 6.7 seconds left, but a Rodions Kurucs steal gave the Nets a chance to tie. LeVert was fouled by Smart on a 3-point attempt with 0.2 seconds on the clock and sunk all his free throws to force overtime.
LeVert outscored Boston 11-2 the rest of the way.
The Celtics played without All-Star forward Jayson Tatum, sidelined by an illness. Gordon Hayward didn't play in the second half due to a right knee contusion he appeared to sustain on an inadvertent collision with Daniel Theis late in the second quarter.
The Celtics came out firing to start, Brown slamming down a 360 dunk five minutes in before Smart denied Jarrett Allen with an emphatic block on the Nets' next possession. Boston led 33-28 at quarter's end.
The Nets kept pace until the Celtics went up by double digits, 50-38, on a Smart 3-pointer with 3:45 left in the half. Boston entered the break up 56-43.
--Field Level Media
Brooklyn | Boston | |
Caris LeVert 51 | Scoring | Jaylen Brown 22 |
Caris LeVert 5 | Assists | Marcus Smart 10 |
DeAndre Jordan 15 | Rebounds | Javonte Green 8 |
Caris LeVert 12 | Free Throws Made | Jaylen Brown 5 |
Chris Chiozza 2 | Steals | Brad Wanamaker 4 |
Spencer Dinwiddie 2 | Blocks | Javonte Green 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Brooklyn | 129 | 43.0 | 14-49 | 29-38 | 22 | 63 | 6 | 7 | 21 |
Boston | 120 | 42.7 | 15-49 | 17-23 | 24 | 42 | 6 | 10 | 15 |