Key Moment
It felt all night like the Celtics just weren’t playing well enough to upend the defending champs. Yet there Boston was, with less than a minute remaining, with possession of the ball and a chance to take the lead.
Unfortunately, they failed to take advantage of the opportunity.
Jaylen Brown’s excellent defense led to a turnover by Jamal Murray with 49.8 seconds left as Denver led by just two, at 111-109. Brown and the Celtics immediately took the ball in the other direction and wound up with a shot that any NBA coach would take: a wide-open corner 3-pointer by the best player on the team. In this case, that was Jayson Tatum. Unfortunately, the superstar wing just couldn’t connect, as his shot came up short and off the side of the iron.
The only reason Boston had a chance was because Jrue Holiday had just connected on two 3-pointers in a span of 26 seconds prior to Murray’s turnover. Holiday’s 3s sliced Denver’s lead down from six to two.
There’s no guarantee that the Celtics would have won had Tatum followed those shots up with a 3-pointer of his own. There was, however, a guarantee that Boston would lose following his miss.
Denver iced the game with an alley-oop dunk from Aaron Gordon off a nifty pass from Nikola Jokic, his 11th assist of the night during another triple-double performance, and two free throws from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to account for the final score of 115-109.
Key Player
Jaylen Brown was relentless Thursday night. His constant pursuit of both the basket and the basketball led to one of the most impressive double-doubles of his career.
Brown finished the contest with game highs in not one, but two categories. His 41 points and 13 rebounds both accounted for the top marks in the game, and they also doubled as season-high totals for the three-time All-Star.
Brown shot a strong 16-for-29 from the field to account for his scoring. His 16 makes were seven more than any other player on the team. He also added in four assists while tying for the game high in steals with three.
Box Score Nuggets
- Each team scored at least 54 points in the paint, as Denver notched 66 and the C's scored 54.
- Jaylen Brown led the game in both points (41) and rebounds (13).
- Nikola Jokic notched a triple-double with 32 points, 12 rebounds and a game-high 11 assists.
- Denver won by six despite making only four 3-pointers.
- The Nuggets were nearly perfect from the free-throw line, at 21-for-22, while the Celtics struggled to a 16-for-25 mark.
- Kristaps Porzingis logged a double-double that consisted of 24 points and 12 rebounds.
- Brown set a new career high with six offensive rebounds.
- Peyton Watson led all reserves with 11 points.
Quote of the Night
"The team showed a bit of resilience, and I think when you play against another great team, those 10 to 12 possessions are super, super critical. I thought Denver did a great job taking advantage of those better than we did tonight."
– Joe Mazzulla on Boston's comeback bid falling just short