The Nets suffer a heartbreaking blow to the Celtics in overtime after blowing the lead

BOSTON – The Nets respect the Celtics and their style of play, but are not trying to emulate or imitate the reigning champions, but rather to beat them and develop their own winning identity.

Friday's blowout was a tough lesson on the road, delivering a heartbreaking 108-104 overtime loss before a typically raucous, sellout crowd of 19,156 at TD Garden.

The game ended at 94 points, 96 points, 98 points and finally 100 points in overtime.

After Payton Pritchard's free throws gave Boston a two-point lead with 2:45 left, Cam Thomas (team-high 31 points) tied it for the final time.

Jayson Tatum (33 points, nine rebounds, six assists) hit Al Horford with a 3-pointer to make it 103:100. Dennis Schroder scored to pull the Nets within one point, but Tatum's short jump shot increased the lead to three.

And when Dorian Finney-Smith missed, the Nets ran out of chances.

Brooklyn got the ball with 31 seconds left but couldn't get a shot off and committed a 24-second violation.

The rest was academic, with the Celtics finishing the game at the line.

“I have a lot of respect for this Celtics team,” Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said previously. “But I think what I mentioned before was that they are the winning team that they are and won a championship. Her physicality and ball pressure are tops in the league.

“Obviously we’re working on it, but we’re definitely not trying to be the Celtics. Celtics are the Celtics, and we're trying to find our own identity here. But I respect how they play, how hard they are, how physical they are and what they’ve obviously accomplished.”

Schroder had 20 points for the Nets, while Cam Johnson added 18 and seven points.

Brooklyn outshot Boston 50-39, led by as many as 14 points in the first half and didn't trail until the fourth quarter.

But after the final siren of extra time they were behind.

The Nets (4-5) play the bottom of this back-to-back Saturday in Cleveland, where their former coach Kenny Atkinson has the Cavaliers with the NBA's best record.

Ben Simmons, who flirted with a triple-double with eight points, eight assists and seven rebounds, will not play against the Cavs.

Jrue Holiday had 17 points and Horford had a double-double (13 points, 10 boards) for Boston, which improved to 8-2.

Friday's loss will upset the Nets, who jumped out to a quick lead and scored the first dozen points.

When Johnson hit Dorian Finney-Smith for a 3-pointer with 9:42 left in the first period, the Nets had hit their first five shots. They held Boston to a 0-4 win with a few turnovers and jumped ahead.

Thomas' 3-pointer extended the lead to 16-2 with 6:38 left in the first period.

But after missing their first five 3-pointers, the Celtics hit five of their next eight.

Brooklyn ended the quarter with a 22-12 run, mostly against Simmons and the rest of the Nets bench.

Although they never trailed, Brooklyn's lead narrowed to four points in the second quarter and had a 51-49 advantage heading into the second half.

Brooklyn saw the Celtics make it 59-1 with a Horford 3-pointer with 8:12 left in the third. Schröder solved it just 11 seconds later.

It was an exciting fourth quarter with four ties and three lead changes, the first of the game.

After the score dropped to 92-92 in the final minute, pressure from Finney-Smith and Brooklyn forced a Tatum turnover.

But Thomas missed a layup and Tatum grabbed the rebound with 37.1 minutes remaining.

Six seconds later, Tatum hit a baseline dunk that gave Boston the lead.

Johnson missed a three-pointer but grabbed his own rebound and was fouled. He sank both points at the free throw line, tying the score with 7.6 minutes left in regulation time.

The decision was made in extra time.