The Boston Celtics made it two wins in a row on Friday, when they headed to Barclays Center and pulled out a 130-126 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. Boston got off to a slow start, struggled to get any great offensive production, while simultaneously fighting for their lives against Brooklyn’s “old reliable” handoff action.
Payton Pritchard sparked some second-half momentum to give the Cs a boost, before they inexplicably relinquished a 10-point lead in the final minutes to allow the Nets to force overtime.
Then, the Nets returned the favor. The Celtics managed to erase a five-point deficit in the final five seconds of overtime, thanks to a missed Nolan Traore free throw, and a clutch Hugo Gonzalez three.
Some big buckets from Pritchard, a pair of blocks from Amari Williams, and a Sam Hauser dagger three sealed the deal for Boston after they escaped the jaws of defeat.
HE'S ONLY 19 pic.twitter.com/WxSL4GnBRK
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 24, 2026
Here’s what else stood out:
Defensive rebounding is important
This game went to overtime because the Celtics couldn’t close out their stops late in this game. Brooklyn scored six points in the final minute of regulation. None of them came on their first shot attempt.
Three Nets possessions, six second-chance points.
When you go on to lose in overtime because you literally could not close the win in regulation, it’s extremely frustrating.
Neemias Queta was sick
Right around noontime Friday, the Celtics listed Neemias Queta as questionable for their matchup with the Nets due to non-covid illness. He was cleared to go in the hours before tipoff, and, man, did the Cs need him.
Despite it being a game against, well, the Nets, Boston struggled to find good offense for most of the night. They struggled to match Brooklyn’s energy throughout the first half and found themselves in a six-point deficit at the break.
It could have been way worse.
Fortunately for them, the Portuguese big man had their back. The statsheet doesn’t properly represent how impactful Queta was for them. Yes, he had just three offensive rebounds, but there were at least five other times where he battled with Brooklyn players to either draw a foul or knock the ball off of them to earn Boston an extra possession.
Queta’s night came to a close when he fouled out with 1:50 to go in the fourth quarter. His six points and five rebounds (really closer to 10, probably) were much appreciated.
A bizarre offensive night
It’s not often that you can look at the box score in the middle of a Celtics game, see Boston is shooting 50% from three, yet they’re still trailing on the scoreboard. That was the case for a large majority of this one.
Boston’s outside shooting, combined with the aforementioned effort on the offensive glass, kept them afloat. There was a point in the second half where Boston had made 14 threes and only seven twos. That’s an insane split.
About midway through the third quarter, the Celtics remembered how to score the ball from inside the arc, and it was a true difference maker.
The real story of the night, though, was transition. Whichever team was out running in transition was the one in control of the momentum. When the Nets were building their first-half lead on Boston, they were running. When the Celtics stormed back at the end of the third quarter, they were running.
Funny how that works.
Brooklyn’s Michael Porter Jr. handoff play is going to keep Joe Mazzulla up at night
When the Celtics inexplicably lost to the Nets at TD Garden back in November, Michael Porter Jr. lit them up in the fourth quarter to help Brooklyn pull away. He got hot when Jordi Fernandez told his team to repeatedly run the same handoff action over and over.
Wouldn’t you know, Brooklyn ran it again on Friday, and it worked.
Porter Jr. got off to an efficient start, scoring 19 points on just seven shots.
Boston struggled so much that Joe Mazzulla was subbing guys into the game as if it were a revolving door, because no one could guard the action properly. Hugo Gonzalez was the first victim. He went underneath a screen and earned himself an earful after he was quickly yanked from the game.