And 7 for the Celtics. Boston dominates the Nuggets on its floor with a score of 108-102 to continue its superb series and bring its record to 32-25 and stay close to the front runners.
The Nuggets however led a large part of the meeting in the wake of Nikola Jokic, author of his 72nd career triple-double with 23 points at 9/20, 16 rebounds and 11 assists, but also 9 of the 21 lost balls of his own . Boston was able to rely on a duo Jayson Tatum (24 points at 8/19, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals) – Marcus Smart (22 points at 6/16 including 2*6 from afar, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 interceptions). For his first game with Boston, Derrick White was very good with 15 points at 6/12 including 3/7 from afar and 6 rebounds. Robert Williams also does the job with 15 anointed at 7/12, 16 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 blocks. Jaylen Brown had a bad evening: 12 points at 4/17 including 0/6 behind the arc. In Denver Aaron Gordon scored 17 points at 8/15 and Will Barton 13 points at 5/10 but the team shot at 11/44 from afar.
Denver was up to 11 points ahead in the first quarter and led 9 at the break. But the second half was dominated by the Celtics. They first took control on a 15-2 concluded by a layup from Marcus Smart, 69-65. But Denver responded with another run, a 14-7 to take a small 3-point lead at the start of the last 12 minutes. On a crazy streak from Rob Williams, on the counter and at the conclusion, Boston took the lead 91-90 with 7 minutes to play. Jokic tied everyone and Barton tied theirs in the lead by one point, but Boston handled the final minutes better. With a dunk from Williams and a layup from White, Boston took control until the end of the match. Barton missed an important 3-point shot at the start of the last minute and Smart took the lead to 5 units on two shots that almost folded the game, Boston managing the last seconds well.
