BOSTON – It was over. At least it should have been. With just a few minutes to go in Game 1 of Boston’s first-round series against Brooklyn, the Celtics were on the verge of kicking the game away. A 15-point lead had evaporated. Kyrie Irving, New England’s favorite villain, got hot. Kevin Durant made a couple of shots, too. Boston’s crunch-time offense, a weakness in an otherwise stellar second half of the season, looked ragged.
Those ‘who wants to play the Nets’ narratives? The digital ink was spilling.
And then … wait, what happened?
Here’s how it played out: A shade under 40 seconds to play and the Nets up one, Brooklyn had the ball and was looking for the dagger.