Jayson Tatum's layup at buzzer gives Boston Celtics win over Brooklyn Nets in Game 1 of first-round playoff series

BOSTON — Jayson Tatum made a layup at the buzzer on a pass from Marcus Smart to give the Boston Celtics a dramatic 115-114 victory over the Brooklyn Nets in the Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Sunday.

Tatum scored 16 of his 31 points in the second half, the final two after a poised Boston possession in the frantic final seconds. Jaylen Brown dribbled toward the middle and swung the ball out to Smart, who fired it into a cutting Tatum, who spun around and dropped in his layup just before time expired.

Dating back to last postseason, Tatum has four straight 30-point games in the playoffs, matching Larry Bird in 1987 for the longest streak in Celtics history. His buzzer-beater was also the first in the playoffs for the Celtics since Paul Pierce in 2010 against the Miami Heat.

Brown added 23 points. Al Horford had 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Smart finished with 20 points, including four 3-pointers.

Kyrie Irving finished with 39 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter. But the Celtics forced the ball out of his hands the last time Brooklyn had it and Kevin Durant missed a jumper with a one-point lead that set up the Celtics' final possession.

Durant added 23 points but shot just 9-of-24.

Boston charged out of halftime with a 23-8 run to open a 82-69 lead, sparked by Smart's dead-eye shooting from beyond the arc.

The Celtics also seemed to tweak their approach to guarding Durant in the half court, fronting him and sending help over the top to limit his driving ability.

Durant and Irving still found ways to score at times, but they had to exert increased energy to get off their attempts.

It didn't last.

With Boston leading early in the fourth, Irving got Brooklyn back in the mix with two straight 3-pointers