Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Jayson Tatum continues to haunt Nets

By Sean Keane | Last updated Oct 28, 2026 8:22 AM ET

The Boston Celtics drafted Jayson Tatum in 2017 thanks to a 2013 trade that let them swap first-round picks with the Brooklyn Nets. Nearly a decade later, Tatum continues to haunt Boston's Atlantic Division rivals.

Tuesday night, Tatum sank a 17-footer as time expired in overtime to give the Celtics a 125-124 win over the Nets. The big shot left Brooklyn winless and continued their Tatum-related misery.

Jayson Tatum has dominated Brooklyn Nets

After Tuesday's win, Tatum has a record of 21-8 against the Nets in the regular season. He's 5-4 against them in the playoffs, with his only losses happening in the 2021 postseason after Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker both went out with injuries.

Tatum has career averages of 24.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists against the Nets, shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 41.5 percent on threes. Tuesday was one of his best games, as he scored 40 points, dished eight assists and didn't commit a single turnover while going 18-for-22 on free throws.

But the biggest moment came at the end of OT. Noah Clowney blocked Tatum with 26 seconds left, but that didn't dissuade the Celtics to go to a double-covered Tatum in the final seconds. He calmly evaded rookie Mikel Brown, Jr. and sent the TD Garden crowd home happy.

JAYSON TATUM.

GAME-WINNING @TISSOT BUZZER-BEATER TO SEAL IT FOR THE CELTICS IN OT

⏰Everyone Gets 24 pic.twitter.com/UwK9VKPJeq
— NBA (@NBA) October 28, 2026

Jayson Tatum is walking reminder of Brooklyn Nets' mistakes

It would be one thing if the Nets had simply made a disaster deal that haunted them for over a decade. It's worse that the trade happened within their division, with a team they play four times a season.

The 2013 trade sent Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Nets in exchange for three first-round picks and the swap that got the Celtics Tatum in 2017 (they traded down from No. 1 to No. 3), along with Brown and a 2018 first-rounder they used to trade for Kyrie Irving. Pierce was gone after one year and Garnett was traded at the deadline in 2015.

Tatum and the Celtics won a championship in 2024, made the Finals in 2022 and reached the Eastern Conference Finals in four other seasons. The Nets are in the midst of their second roster teardown and rebuild since Tatum joined the league, and have won only a single playoff series since 2014.

The Nets don't get any respite from Brown, either. The Celtics traded him this summer, but to another Atlantic Division team, the Philadelphia 76ers. Arguably that's even worse, since the Nets are reminded of their folly in eight different games instead of just four.

Tatum started the season with a rough 6-for-23 shooting game, only to score 99 points in his next three games while shooting 31-for-63. But the biggest shot was Tuesday's game-winner, yet another dagger into the hearts of the Nets courtesy of a player who could have landed in Brooklyn nine years ago.

Sean Keane

Sean Keane is a sportswriter and a comedian based in Oakland, California, with experience covering the NBA, MLB, NFL and Ice Cube’s three-on-three basketball league, The Big 3. He’s written for Comedy Central’s “Another Period,” ESPN the Magazine, and Audible. com

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