BOSTON — The Nets are officially a losing team.
The Celtics knocked them into the land of the losing, handing Brooklyn a 126-120 defeat before a sellout crowd of 19,156 at TD Garden — many of whom booed Kyrie Irving’s every touch and chanted “Kyrie sucks!” in the waning moments.
Those waning minutes were a bitter pill for the Nets to swallow. Kevin Durant (37 points) had played brilliantly to give them a 98-97 fourth-quarter lead. But they conceded a 8-0 run to lose the momentum and eventually the game.
Durant might be the best player on the planet, but Boston’s Jayson Tatum was the best player on the court Sunday. He poured in a game-high 54 points, with 36 through the first three quarters before dominating with 18 in the fourth.
Irving had 19 points on 8 of 18 shooting with six assists, jeered every single time he touched the ball. It was only the fourth time he and Durant played together this season, and the duo’s first game starting alongside newcomers Seth Curry and Andre Drummond. There is much work to do, and now with just 17 games left precious little time to do it.
The Nets (32-33) have fallen all the way into a virtual three-way tie with the Hornets and Hawks for eighth place in the Eastern Conference, with a huge visit to Charlotte looming on Tuesday night.
Brooklyn is three full games behind seventh-place Toronto and five behind sixth-place Cleveland for the last guaranteed playoff spot. The Raptors and Cavaliers face each other Sunday night. The Nets were closer to falling out of the playoffs — 2 ¹/₂ games ahead of the Wizards before Washington’s game at the Pacers on Sunday night — than they were to catching Toronto.
The Nets trailed 79-76 after Jaylen Brown — a game-time decision for Boston — found veteran big Al Horford for a cutting dunk with 5:20 left in the third quarter.
Brooklyn reeled off 11 unanswered points to temporarily seize the momentum. After Durant found Bruce Brown for a cutting layup, center LaMarcus Aldridge followed with a put-back and a pull-up jumper. And after Durant earned a pair of free throws — sinking both — he capped the run with a pull-up 3-pointer.
Brooklyn led 87-79 with three minutes left in the third. But it was a cushion it couldn’t protect.
Nic Claxton — who came on after Drummond struggled with Boston’s mobility –— committed an ill-advised foul challenging Tatum on the perimeter with just 3.6 seconds left in the quarter. The Celtics star hit all three free throws to cut Brooklyn’s lead to 90-89.
Boston edged ahead 97-95. And even after Durant drew Tatum’s fourth foul — Celtics coach Ime Udoka lost a challenge, claiming his star was pushed into Durant — and hit three free throws to give the Nets a 98-97 lead, they couldn’t hold it.
The Nets surrendered an 8-0 run to lose control of the game. Tatum’s free throws capped the blitz and left Brooklyn trailing 108-100 with 6:26 to play.
A driving Tatum layup left Brooklyn down 110-102, but the Nets reeled off nine unanswered points.
A Curry 3-pointer put the Nets up 111-110 with 3:29 to play, but it didn’t last.
Tatum followed two free throws with strong drive into contact for a 114-111 edge. Brooklyn never led again.
Durant became just the 23rd player – and seventh-fastest player (in terms of number of games) – to reach 25,000 points.
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