I went looking for an ordinary night at TD Garden, but Jayson Tatum had other plans

I had already typed “Celtics win” into my notes when Mikel Brown Jr. made me a liar.

Mitchell Robinson had missed two free throws with four seconds left and Boston ahead by three. Fans had already begun filing toward the exits. Across press row, laptop screens flipped from live notes to the opening paragraphs of stories explaining how the Celtics had survived the second night of their first back-to-back.

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I closed mine. Rookie mistake.

Brown Jr. caught the inbound pass, took one dribble and buried a three with 0.2 seconds left. Everybody who had already reached the concourse was about to experience the most confusing elevator ride of their lives.

I reopened the document.

“Not a Celtics win yet,” I added, while privately wondering whether I had caused all of this by getting ahead of myself.

This was supposed to be my first ordinary night covering the Celtics.

Last year, my first three games with a credential spoiled me beyond repair. I saw Jayson Tatum return from a torn Achilles on the same night Cooper Flagg played his first NBA game in Boston. Then came Games 5 and 7 against Philadelphia, playoff nights that carried a nervous current from the empty arena before the game through the final buzzer and beyond.

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Tuesday was different. It was Game 4 of 82 against a winless Brooklyn team on the second night of a back-to-back in late October.

I had wondered what covering the Celtics would look like without the obvious stakes. What fills the hours before tip when nobody is returning from a devastating injury and the season isn’t hanging in the balance? Does the Garden still feel magical when it’s just another game?

The answer arrived five quarters later.

The Celtics beat the Nets 125-124 in overtime on a Tatum buzzer-beater.

So much for that experiment.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – OCTOBER 23: Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics addresses fans before the Celtics Home Opener against the New York Knicks at TD Garden on October 23, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and…

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Publish date : 2026-10-28 14:00:00

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