Nets

Game 3 between the Celtics and Nets is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

But when the game was on the line, the Celtics stepped up huge. The best scorers in Wednesday’s game all had varying impacts on the score, but for the most part, they weren’t their otherworldly selves. The Nets had Brown with his 23 points, Seth Curry added 16 while Goran Dragic put up 18. The Nets couldn’t figure out the Celtics in the fourth quarter, and they quickly saw their lead evaporate as minutes came off the clock. The Nets led by as many as 17 points late in the first half, but a resilient Boston squad slowly kept chipping away at Brooklyn’s lead. While the Nets finished with 17 fourth-quarter points, they were stuck at just six points late in the quarter.

Ben Simmons has been ruled out for Game 2 between the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday evening, but according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, ...

- CAN KRISTAPS STILL BE AN ALL-STAR? Ben Stinar and Haley Jordan sat down to talk about Washington Wizards star Kristaps Porzingis in a recent episode of Stinar For 3. - KEMBA WALKER CAN STILL HELP A CONTENDING TEAM: Kemba Walker's tenure with the New York Knicks appears to have ended. Boston on Monday is looming as a realistic target for his Brooklyn debut, sources tell ESPN."

Jaylen Brown led Boston with 22 points. Jayson Tatum added 19 points and 10 assists.

With one dramatic sequence, the Celtics took the series lead Sunday. With one dramatic sequence, the Celtics took the series lead Sunday. Can it keep up as the series carries on?

Boston won Game 1 with a Jayson Tatum layup at the buzzer.

The Nets nearly won Game 1 despite Durant having a subpar performance, and three out of their five starters failing to score in double figures. Durant is likely to have a bounce back performance in Game 2, plus the Nets should be motivated not to fall behind by two games. Four out of the Celtics' five starters -- Tatum, Brown, Smart and Horford -- scored 20-plus points in the first game, and they did a lot of damage in the paint specifically. Another storyline to keep an eye on with the Nets is Kyrie Irving, who was just fined $50,000 by the NBA for flipping off Boston fans during Game 1. It was a back-and-forth battle that culminated with Celtics All-Star forward Jayson Tatum converting a layup off of a pass from Marcus Smart as time expired to propel Boston to a 115-114 victory and a 1-0 lead in the series. It will be tough for Game 2 to match Game 1 in terms of excitement, but we can certainly hope that it does.