Keys to the Game: Celtics 109, Nets 103

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Of all places, the Brooklyn Nets received a significant boost from Blake Griffin during the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s Game 3.

Thanks to Jaylen Brown, however, that boost was rendered meaningless.

Brown scored or assisted on 12 straight Celtics points from the 9:27 mark of the fourth quarter to the 6:37 mark, which provided Boston with a comfortable 93-84 advantage. Those points were wrapped around eight from Brooklyn, which included two 3-pointers from Griffin.

Griffin had not played in the series until he checked in with 1:27 remaining in Saturday night’s third quarter. This was the type of situation where any contribution from him should have injected life into a struggling Nets team. Receiving back-to-back triples from Griffin? That should have built a wave of momentum.

Brown prevented that from happening by owning the moment at the other end of the court. He isolated Griffin time after time and made play after play to put points on the board for Boston. In sequential order, Brown scored a layup, then canned a 3-pointer, then scored another layup, then assisted on a drive-and-kick 3-pointer by Jayson Tatum, and then drained a step-back jumper.

Brooklyn called for a timeout right after that final bucket with the hope of slowing down Brown and the C’s. Right after that timeout, however, the Nets turned the ball over and Tatum put home a transition, and-one layup to bump the lead up to 12. That was the moment when Boston took control and never looked back before closing out a 109-103 win to take a 3-0 series lead.

Print it: Jayson Tatum might be the top two-way player in the entire NBA.

Tatum compiled more evidence to support his case during Saturday night’s Game 3, when he totaled a game-high 39 points and a career-high six steals to go along with six assists and five rebounds.

From an offensive perspective, Tatum individually outscored the combination of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who combined to score just 32 points on the night. Tatum’s six assists also tied Marcus Smart for the team high in that category.

If you watched any of this game or series, you also know full well that Tatum has been the key to Boston’s containment of Kevin Durant. As Durant’s primary defender, Tatum helped to force Durant into five turnovers, taking the all-time great’s turnover total to 17 through three games. And, as previously mentioned, Tatum also secured a career-best five steals during the contest.

Robert Williams on returning to the Celtics' lineup