BOSTON – Kyrie Irving scored 37 points with eight assists in his return to Boston and Kevin Durant added 29 for Brooklyn on Friday to lead the Nets to a 123-95 victory over the Celtics.Jarrett Allen added 11 rebounds for the Nets, who remained perfect so far this season and sent Boston to its first loss.
Irving was 7 of 10 from 3-point range in his first regular-season game at TD Garden since he opted out of his Celtics contract in 2019.
Jaylen Brown scored 27 with eight rebounds for the Celtics and Jayson Tatum had 20 points and eight boards. The Celtics beat Milwaukee in their opener on Wednesday on Tatum's last-second shot over Giannis Antetokounmpo, but they couldn't do it again in their second straight matchup against a team expected.