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to slip against, because they put their body in front of the slip and you can't run them over.

"And so we got a couple of those but it's hard to get good movement," he said. "We did a better job at the start of the game than the end of the game. But I thought we were better attacking them than Game 1."

And unlike on Feb. 11 in Houston, the Celtics actually attempted more free throws (25-18) than the Rockets, who normally live at the line. James Harden, who came in averaging 11.7 free throw attempts per game, only attempted three as part of his 21-point performance last night.

"I think we guarded him well," said Brown. "I think we accepted his challenge. We just didn't do a good enough job with Westbrook. We had a lot of attention on James Harden, and forgot about the other MVP over there. He came out and asserted himself early and took over and dominated this game."

Though he missed that open 16-footer in overtime, Brown also made OT possible.

His buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the top of the arc sent the game into overtime in a 104-104 tie after Tatum purposely missed his last free throw, which was rebounded by Smart, who hurried the ball out to Brown.

The lead changed hands on the first five possessions, with the Celtics finally gaining traction when, after a 2:09 scoreless stretch following a Daniel Theis dunk for a 110-109 lead, the Celtics center won the scramble for a loose ball and called a timeout with 47.1 seconds left.

Hayward missed from the corner and though Smart got the rebound, he lost the ball. Harden, fouled on the other end, hit twice for a 111-110 Houston lead with 24.3 seconds left.

The Celtics got the last possession, and used up all of the clock before Brown freed for his open shot from the baseline. He missed, and though Theis grabbed the rebound, he was unable to get the shot off before the buzzer.

"We were running one of our set plays where I throw it to Gordon," Tatum said of the last play. "I was supposed to come off a flare and you can either do a dribble handoff with the guy in the corner, JB, or come off a ball screen that Theis sets. JB got a good shot. Something he can hit. It just didn't go in.''