Jayson Tatum's 54 leads Celtics past Durant, Irving, Nets 126-120

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Jayson Tatum scored a season-high 54 points — 34 of them in the second half — and the Boston Celtics overcame a rare appearance of both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in the Nets lineup, beating Brooklyn 126-120 on Sunday.

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Durant played in his second game since mid-January and scored 37 for the Nets to become the 23rd player in NBA history to reach 25,000 points. Irving joined him for just the fourth time all season, scoring 19 in his first game in three weeks and his first in Boston since he was pelted with a water bottle during the playoffs.

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) shoots as Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving (11) defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 6, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Jaylen Brown, who was cleared to return to Boston’s lineup after testing his sprained ankle pregame, scored 21 for the Celtics. He beat the 24-second clock to hit a 3-pointer and give Boston a 121-115 lead in the final minute.

Durant missed a jumper the next time down — complaining that he was fouled, with no luck. Tatum was fouled the next possession and, as "MVP!" chants rang out in the TD Garden, he hit one of two free throws to surpass his previous season high of 51.

The Celtics have won five of their last six and 21 of their last 27 games.

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EARLY ON

The Nets scored 11 straight points midway through the third and opened their biggest lead of the game, 90-81, with just over a minute left in the quarter. But Boston scored eight in a row to cut it to one point, then took the lead on