Brooklyn Nets 119-125 Boston Celtics: Twitter erupts as Jayson Tatum scores 50 | NBA Playoffs 2021

The Boston Celtics reignited their postseason hopes on Friday night by grabbing a huge 125-119 win against the Brooklyn Nets. Brad Stevens' unit rallied behind home support and a 50-point outing from Jayson Tatum to claim their first victory of the 2021 NBA Playoffs. The series now reads 2-1 in Brooklyn's favor.

The Brooklyn Nets rushed off to a 19-4 lead in the early minutes of the game and it looked like another beating was on the cards for the Boston Celtics. That's when Jayson Tatum caught fire and ignited a comeback. The Cs took control of the game by the end of the first quarter and dominated the rest of the way.

Jayson Tatum's 50-point game fuels the Boston Celtics

Multiple players had huge performances in the game, but the occasion belonged to Jayson Tatum tonight. Tatum had managed just a combined 31 points on 9-of-32 shooting in the last two games, but he removed the ghosts of the past with his fourth 50-point outing of the season.

JAYSON TATUM.

50 POINTS AND THE DAGGER. pic.twitter.com/MqlhYyAuQr
— ESPN (@espn) May 29, 2021

Jayson Tatum scored 19 points in the third quarter alone, extending the Boston Celtics' lead over the Brooklyn Nets to 17 at one point. He brought up 50 points with a dagger mid-range jumper over Kevin Durant in the final seconds of the game. He received the deserved plaudits for the same.

For me, the question isn’t whether Jayson Tatum wins an MVP in his career?

It’s how many ...
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) May 29, 2021

we even surprised by these Tatum performances anymore? what a damn talent.
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) May 29, 2021

Tatum: pic.twitter.com/mWs4b3DsJ2
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) May 29, 2021

Tatum not letting the Nets off the hook. At all. There's no settle in his game tonight. He's been mean to Kyrie on some of these switches.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) May 29, 2021

Jayson Tatum has four 50-point games this season (regular-season, play-in and playoffs). That ties Larry Bird for the most in a career in #Celtics history. Tatum is the 3rd-youngest player with a 50-point game in the playoffs. #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/xgsskJsDYy
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) May 29, 2021

I remember Kuzma stans (🤮) holding it against Tatum cuz he couldn’t score 25+ points 😂
— BSOLZ (@BSOLZ_) May 29, 2021

Kind of crazy to think about it but Tatum has played Bron and KD in series already in his career now and has a 50 piece and a dunk on LBJ lol
— 500 🏎 (@Kameron_Hay) May 29, 2021

Tatum had plenty of help from his teammates tonight. Kemba Walker went just 3-of-14 from the floor, but Marcus Smart scored 23 on 72.7% shooting. Tristan Thompson played arguably his best game in a Boston Celtics uniform as he exploded for 19 points and 13 rebounds, including nine offensive boards.

the sequence:
tatum for three, fournier for three, grant blocks harden, tatum layup

me watching it: pic.twitter.com/F0RQ37VG8G
— smarfwater™ (@smarfwater) May 29, 2021

We’re so lucky to have Marcus Smart in our lives
— Riffs Man (@Riffs_Man) May 29, 2021

Tristan Thompson wasn’t kidding about saying the #Celtics just needed some fans in the building
— Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) May 29, 2021

Tristan Thompson!!! pic.twitter.com/lXurtG00Qa
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) May 29, 2021

The media: Brooklyn is going to sweep the Celtics

Marcus Smart and the Celtics: pic.twitter.com/KV2vtFMy9e
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) May 29, 2021

Quietly, because Tatum and Smart have been so good, Fournier is having a big game.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) May 29, 2021

James Harden and Kevin Durant combine for 80 but the Brooklyn Nets fall short

The Brooklyn Nets were downright mediocre on defense tonight, but that didn't impact their scoring firepower much. James Harden exploded for 41 points and 10 assists on 11-of-18 shooting, while Kevin Durant had 39 points too. The rest of the Brooklyn crew didn't turn up as the Boston Celtics walked away with a close win. Here are some reactions to the Brooklyn Nets' performance.

James Harden is the first Nets player with a 40p/10a playoff game in franchise history.

41 PTS
10 AST
7 REB
7 3PT pic.twitter.com/hNV5KDL7Ws
— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 29, 2021

Having Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Blake Griffin on your team and blaming a loss on JEFF GREEN not playing in the year 2021 is absolute hilarity https://t.co/lr1WTBmWZQ
— B.W. Carlin (@BaileyCarlin) May 29, 2021

Nets got Harden as a luxury when in reality he was a necessity
— 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙩¹³🎡 (@thehurryupnba) May 29, 2021

Tonight we saw the part of the game that KD lost with the Achilles injury. He’s still one of the best offensive players in basketball, but he’s not the defender he was before the injury
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) May 29, 2021

Harden lost while putting up:

41 points
7 rebounds
10 assists
86% TS
61% FG

Get him more help 😡
— BGN (@BullsGotNext) May 29, 2021

Kyrie Irving was under the scanner tonight because of his angsty relationship with Celtics fans. The crowd in attendance showed Kyrie some tough love as he failed to rise to the occasion. Irving managed just 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting.

Kyrie Irving: *touches the ball*

Celtics fans: pic.twitter.com/26dlJnX68w
— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) May 29, 2021

KD and Harden... and Kyrie: pic.twitter.com/PGzGk0HJvX
— balloonslayer (@blnslyr) May 29, 2021

Evan Fournier, Marcus Smart and Tristan Thompson all outscored Kyrie Irving.
— Scott Maxwell (@SilvahHammah) May 29, 2021

Playoff Kyrie when he’s not on Lebron’s team pic.twitter.com/WXtwrkpbRg
— James (@MPleasing72) May 29, 2021

The Boston Celtics have now gathered much-needed steam ahead of their next matchup against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. With public restrictions also getting lifted in Massachusetts, 17,000 fans are expected to be in attendance for Game 4 at TD Garden. So the Nets certainly have their task cut out.