BOSTON — The Celtics escaped with a 120-119 win over the Pelicans, and when the final buzzer sounded, there was a strong sense of relief in the building.
A near-disastrous loss against one of the league’s lowest-ranked teams was avoided — but just barely. After a game marked by shooting struggles and costly errors, the Celtics finally led by 5 with 22 seconds to play.
From that moment on, almost everything went wrong.
Dejounte Murray (26 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists) tipped in a missed Trey Murphy three-pointer to cut the deficit to three, and Jayson Tatum (38 points, 11 rebounds) — who up until the waning moment was a perfect 8-8 from the line — uncharacteristically bricked two free throws that would have put away the game.