Rescued by rookies, Celtics stun Nets in double-OT victory

The Celtics escaped Brooklyn with a surprising victory Friday evening because of Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard and clutch performs by a pair of 2025 draft picks.

Rookie Hugo Gonzalez drilled a game-tying 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining in time beyond regulation, and Boston pulled away within the second OT to defeat the Nets 130-126 on the Barclays Middle.

HE’S ONLY 19 pic.twitter.com/WxSL4GnBRK

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 24, 2026

Brown performed 46 minutes within the dramatic victory and registered a 27-point, 12-assist, 10-rebound triple-double. Pritchard scored a game-high 32 factors on 13-of-24 capturing, with 25 of these coming within the second half and time beyond regulation. Sam Hauser added 19 factors on 7-of-12 capturing (5-of-10 from 3-point vary).

That veteran trio scored 9 of their staff’s 12 factors within the second additional interval, carrying a Celtics squad that was taking part in with out beginning guard Derrick White (relaxation). The opposite three got here from rookie heart Amari Williams, a two-way participant who’s spent a lot of the season within the G League.

Solely within the sport as a result of major large males Neemias Queta and Luka Garza had each fouled out, Williams transformed an and-one layup off a feed from Pritchard, then rejected a shot from fellow rookie Nolan Traore with 40.6 seconds remaining and Boston up 4.

“Guys simply made unbelievable performs,” Pritchard instructed NBC Sports activities Boston sideline reporter Abby Chin after the sport. “Amari is available in, he ain’t performed a lot this yr, and massive rebounds, a giant and-one, a blocked shot. It takes a staff, man. Everyone’s stepping up, and tonight, we would have liked it.”

The win got here on the entrance finish of what’s certain to be a tiring back-to-back for the 28-16 Celtics, who will go to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday evening (8 p.m. ET).

With White sitting, head coach Joe Mazzulla gave second-year professional Baylor Scheierman his third begin of the season, opting once more to maintain Anfernee Simons in his ordinary function as a sixth man. Queta was a late addition to Boston’s damage report (listed as questionable with an sickness) however was cleared to play earlier than tipoff.

The Celtics jumped out to an 11-3 lead thanks to 2 early 3-pointers from Hauser and one from Scheierman. However the Nets, after lacking their first 5 pictures, responded with a 12-2 run, then led for a lot of the opening quarter.

A deep three by Michael Porter Jr. (30 factors) that made it 21-19 Nets triggered a Celtics timeout and a shock Mazzulla substitution. The top coach inserted Ron Harper Jr., a two-way participant whose solely non-garbage-time minutes this season had come within the G League. Harper blocked a 3-pointer throughout his first four-minute shift.

Brooklyn managed play within the second quarter, capitalizing on frequent transition alternatives and pressuring Boston into an unsightly show of inside-the-arc capturing. Although the Celtics had been capturing 50% from 3-point vary late within the first half — together with two extra makes from the red-hot Hauser — they missed 11 consecutive 2-pointers, three of which had been blocked.

Brown began 2-for-11 from the sphere earlier than closing the half with a 3-pointer and a driving layup — his first field-goal try of the sport from inside 9 toes. These had been a part of a 7-2 Celtics run sparked by Queta, who had one block, one steal, three offensive rebounds and three drawn fouls within the second quarter alone. Boston trailed 55-49 at halftime.

The Celtics started attacking the rim far more successfully within the third quarter, going 6-for-6 contained in the restricted space. Pritchard supplied two of these makes, together with one he transformed by way of site visitors after swooping in to corral a deflected Simons move. Seconds later, Gonzalez picked Cam Thomas’ pocket and scored on the different finish to present Boston its first lead since early within the second quarter, 74-73.

Gonzalez’s fast-break end started a stretch of 12 straight factors scored by Celtics bench gamers. A Jordan Walsh 3-pointer early within the fourth tied the sport at 81-81. An and-one layup from Garza made it 84-84.

Hauser, who owns one of the best internet ranking of any Celtics participant since rejoining the beginning 5 on Jan. 3, added a layup and a uncommon midrange jumper on back-to-back possessions, adopted by a Simons floater that put Boston forward 90-88.

Porter responded with a go-ahead 3-pointer, however the Celtics took over from there, launching into an 11-0 run that put them up by double digits. Brown had a hand in all 4 Boston discipline objectives throughout that surge, helping on three of them by exploiting Brooklyn double-teams.

However that lead didn’t maintain. The Nets rallied within the closing three minutes of regulation. After Queta — one in all Boston’s high rim protectors together with White — fouled out with 1:50 remaining, Brooklyn notched a layup, a drawn foul on an offensive rebound and back-to-back putback dunks by Nic Claxton on consecutive possessions. Claxton’s second, which got here after Simons missed one in all two free throws, knotted the rating at 104-104 with 1.9 seconds to play.

Garza then fouled out two minutes into time beyond regulation, leaving Boston with out its high two facilities. The 6-foot-6 Gonzalez checked in for Garza and supplied a spark, following up a Pritchard three with a tip-in that made it 112-108. The Celtics proceeded to overlook their subsequent 4 pictures, nonetheless, and Noah Clowney put the Nets forward with a transition 3-pointer with 41.6 seconds to go.

Down 117-112 with lower than 5 seconds remaining, Boston obtained one other triple from Pritchard and a present from rookie Nolan Traore, who missed a free throw that might have put the sport away. Given one closing probability to tie, Mazzulla despatched Gonzalez again in as a late sub, and the 19-year-old buried one from the left nook to power a second OT.

“It exhibits his character,” Pritchard instructed Chin, referring to his head coach. “He trusts anyone on that entrance. For Hugo to return in and get that shot down, it’s spectacular.”