NBA London 2018: Boston Celtics edge past Brooklyn Nets in final game before UK trip to face Philadelphia 76ers
Jayson Tatum the key as Boston racked up their sixth straight win with a narrow 87-85 victory in Brooklyn
JAYSON TATUM came up clutch late on for the Boston Celtics as they edged past the Brooklyn Nets in their last game before heading to London.
Rookie Tatum had a driving dunk and a 3-pointer on consecutive late possessions, pulling the Celtics out of a hole and to an 87-85 victory at the Barclays Center in New York.
Boston travel to London on the back of a sixth straight win and a 33-10 record in the Eastern Conference.
They take on the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night in the latest NBA regular-season clash in the UK.
Boston were without Al Horford due to a sore knee, and were in danger of sliding to defeat in Brooklyn.
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The Celtics were trailing by one when Tatum got the ball and drove for a powerful slam that gave them an 84-83 lead.
Kyrie Irving missed on Boston's next possession but wrestled the ball away from DeMarre Carroll and got it to Tatum in the corner near the Boston bench, and his 3 made it 87-83 with 45 seconds to play.
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Both teams shot under 40 percent, with the Celtics perhaps worn out after a draining week in which they beat Cleveland on Wednesday and Minnesota on Friday.
But they played their usual rock-solid defence and travel to London looking for a third win over the 76ers this season.
Philadelphia thrashed Detroit at Wells Fargo Center on Friday night in their last game before travelling to Europe.
