Nets rookie Mikel Brown Jr. takes blame after overtime loss to Celtics Mikel Brown Jr. scored 17 points but made costly mistakes in overtime as the Brooklyn Nets fell to the Boston Celtics 125-124, dropping to 0-4. Brooklyn Nets rookie point guard Mikel Brown Jr. took full accountability for his costly mistakes in overtime after the Nets fell to the Boston Celtics 125-124 at TD Garden on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. The loss dropped the Nets to 0-4 to start the season, their fourth straight defeat. Boston improved its record with the dramatic win. Brown, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, finished with 17 points, five assists and five rebounds in what was his best game yet as a professional. He logged a career-high 27 minutes.His night began poorly, with just one point through three quarters on 0-for-5 shooting. But he erupted in the fourth quarter, scoring 13 points on 4-for-6 shooting, including 3-for-4 from three-point range, to fuel a Nets comeback. With three-tenths of a second left in regulation, Brown nailed a clutch 3-pointer to force overtime, capping a wild sequence that briefly made him the hero.Brown Takes Blame for MistakesHowever, in overtime, Brown made two critical rookie mistakes. First, with the Nets leading by one in the final moments, he drove for a layup over Paul George instead of pulling the ball out to run the clock. He missed with 2.3 seconds left, giving Boston one last chance. After missing the layup, Brown made a defensive error on the other end.The Nets were not supposed to switch, intending to use Noah Clowney's length on Jayson Tatum. But Brown got caught on a screen, switched, and allowed Tatum to get a smaller defender. Tatum hit a mid-range jumper as time expired to win the game. Brown admitted the mistake and took responsibility.I did see the open lane, and I thought I had a layup, but the ball was kind of already slipping out of my hands, and PG was already coming towards my right side, Brown said. So I felt like if I didn't go up with it, I kind of was gonna fall out of bounds. So that was my last resort, in all honesty, but I can't make an excuse.There's a lot of plays down the stretch that I messed up on, that I take full accountability of, and I'm gonna be better. He also acknowledged that the team had discussed killing time on the final possession. It was discussed to just try to get it in, and try to kill time. That definitely was discussed, Brown said.But like I said, man, it's just mistakes down the stretch that I just can't make. I just can't do that, so ... On the defensive breakdown, Brown said, We were supposed to stay home, especially on Tatum, keep Noah on Tatum. I got caught up because I didn't know which way Payton [Pritchard] was gonna go, and we ended up switching.So, completely put the blame on myself. I can't just break the coverage like that. I just take full accountability of it. It's gonna be hard watching the film, and I'm just gonna learn from it.Coach Supports Young GuardNets coach Jordi Fernández offered support. [Jordi Fernández] obviously acknowledged, 'This wasn't just on you. It's a team effort.' But I set standards for myself when it comes to that stuff, Brown said. As a guard, time management, blowing coverages on the defensive end, that I just can't have. I'm gonna go watch that film with the coaches, go watch film with Jordi, break it down, learn from it and be better. Teammate Egor Dëmin, who exited with an injury in the first half, defended Brown.Listen, I don't think it's a good idea to refer to him being a rookie. That happens to anybody. We saw in the Finals something similar happened, Dëmin said, referencing De'Aaron Fox's similar NBA Finals Game 4 call to go for a layup rather than run the clock that cost the Spurs. I don't think anybody should be taking blame for that.It's a team effort and team results. So, there's so many things we can learn from not just this game, but any game. It's a great, great experience to have games like this. As many games as we can play where it's a close ending, that's gonna be beneficial for us in the future.Looking Ahead After LossDespite the loss, Brown sent a message to Nets fans on social media the following day, Oct. 28, 2026. The content of the message was not detailed, but his confidence and accountability should give the Nets optimism moving forward. The Nets are counting on Brown and a young core that includes Dëmin and seven first-round draft picks from the past two years. Growing pains were expected, and the team hopes this experience leads to plenty of growth down the line.