The first game of the first-round playoff series between the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets went down to the last second, with Jayson Tatum winning it for the home side courtesy of an incredible spinning layup.
The 24-year-old forward scored 31 points in Sunday’s game, capping his performance off with a last-second shot that put the Celtics up 115-114 following Kevin Durant’s missed attempt from three.
The Celtics, down one with just seconds on the clock, managed to squeeze one in as Marcus Smart resisted the urge to go for the win himself and found Tatum in the lane. The three-time All-Star spun past Kyrie Irving to lay the ball up off the glass as time expired, handing his team the advantage in what’s expected to be a hotly contested series.
Irving led the charge for the Nets, scoring 39 points in the Sunday thriller but could not complete the comeback after helping them reduce a double-digit deficit in the second half.
Durant scored 23 points in an uncharacteristically abysmal performance, shooting 37.5 percent from the field and just 20 percent from three.
The sides will play Game 2 at Boston’s TD Garden on Wednesday night.
