The Celtics put Boston in the NBA spotlight on Thursday with a gritty 121-118 overtime win over reigning champions Golden State as the league polished its global credentials with a glitzy game in Paris.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown came alive late for the Celtics, whose eighth straight win — this one against the team that bested them in last season's NBA Finals — pushed their league-leading record to 34-12.

Even as Tatum and Brown struggled to make shots early, the Celtics built a 10-point lead midway through the second quarter.

But the Warriors chipped away, and grabbed a 55-54 on Stephen Curry's shot from the halfcourt logo at the halftime buzzer.

It looked like the Warriors, who dominated Boston in a December victory in San Francisco, had the Celtics' number again as they pulled away to lead by as many as 11 in the third quarter.

They were up by nine early in the fourth, but Tatum's running dunk pulled Boston within two with two minutes remaining. Al Horford came up with a three-pointer and a big block and Brown's three-pointer tied it at 106-106 with 18.6 seconds left in regulation.

Marcus Smart's opening basket of overtime gave the Celtics their first lead since the first half.

After a three-pointer from Curry put the Warriors up by one, Brown drove for a layup that put the Celtics back on top for good with 2:23 remaining.

"It was a crazy game," Tatum, who scored 34 points with a career-high 19 rebounds, told broadcaster TNT, insisting the contest wasn't about revenge.

"The fact of the matter is they beat us in the championship, there's nothing we can do about that," Tatum said. "This was a regular-season game against a great team that's really well coached, and it's just two tough-minded teams playing against each other."