Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray on Friday combined for 69 points as the Denver Nuggets ended the Boston Celtics’ unbeaten home start to the season with a thrilling 102-100 victory.
A heavyweight showdown between the reigning NBA champions and the league-leading Celtics lived up to the billing in a gripping battle at TD Garden.
Denver’s victory snapped Boston’s 20-game unbeaten run at home this season, the Nuggets laying down a psychological marker in what could be a NBA Finals preview.
Photo: AFP
Murray and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic were in scintillating form throughout the game.
Jokic finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, while Murray led the Nuggets scoring with 35 points from 15-of-21 shooting.
“During the season you’ve got to find ways of motivating yourself and your team, and them not having a loss at home really motivated us,” Murray said afterward.
“We just wanted to come here and bring the right energy regardless. It was good to get a dub [win] today,” added Murray, who also had eight rebounds and five assists. “They’ve got a great team, lot of guys I’m familiar with that I’ve been playing with or against my whole life — just a lot of fun when it gets competitive and physical like that. Just a really good win on the road.”
Derrick White led Boston’s scoring with 24 points, while Jayson Tatum added 22 and Kristaps Porzingis 21.
For long periods of the titanic battle, it looked as if Boston would escape with their unbeaten home record intact in a game that saw the lead change hands 13 times.
The Celtics built a 12-point lead during the second quarter, with Tatum scoring 10 points and Jaylen Brown adding seven, but Denver clawed their way back into the contest and edged ahead 99-98 with 3 minutes, 36 seconds remaining after Jokic’s driving hook shot.
Tatum missed an opportunity to tie the game with an unsuccessful driving layup with 17 seconds left and the Nuggets held on for a gutsy victory.
Boston remained top of the Eastern Conference with 32 wins and 10 defeats, leading the second-placed Milwaukee Bucks (28-13).
Denver improved to 29-14 and were third in the Western Conference behind the Minnesota Timberwolves (30-11) and Oklahoma City Thunder (28-13).
In other NBA games on Friday, Devin Booker produced a superb 52-point display as the Phoenix Suns routed the New Orleans Pelicans 123-109 on the road.
Suns point guard Booker made six three-pointers while shooting 18 of 30 from the field in an impressive Phoenix win.
Kevin Durant added 26 points for the Suns with Bradley Beal scoring 13.
Zion Williamson scored 24 points for New Orleans who trailed almost for the entirety of the contest.
Elsewhere, hopes of a Los Angeles Lakers’ revival ground to a halt as the 17-time NBA champions were thumped 130-112 by the Brooklyn Nets.
Impressive back-to-back wins over Oklahoma City and the Dallas Mavericks this week encouraged optimism that the struggling Lakers might have turned a corner, but they were sent back to the drawing board after a blowout defeat to the Nets.
In Orlando, Joel Embiid’s rich vein of form for the Philadelphia 76ers continued as they swatted aside the Orlando Magic 124-109.
Elsewhere on Friday, it was:
‧ Heat 108, Hawks 109
‧ Trail Blazers 118, Pacers 115
‧ Hornets 124, Spurs 120
OFFENSE SHINES: First baseman Pan Chie-kai hit a solo homer in the fifth inning as all 10 batters Taiwan used contributed at least one hit toward their team total of 14 One day after their first shutout loss at the WBSC Premier12, Taiwan yesterday bounced back with a commanding 8-2 victory over the US, keeping their hopes for a spot in tomorrow’s final alive. The win in the Super Round marked Taiwan’s first triumph over the US at a top-tier international baseball tournament since 2003. Their previous win over the US was at the 2003 Baseball World Cup, with only one win in the previous 10 matchups since 1999. Yesterday’s game was tightly contested through the first six innings, with the margin never exceeding two runs. However, the tide turned in the top of
Nikola Jokic on Saturday scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers 127-102, continuing their dominance of the NBA rivalry, while Scotty Pippen Jr scored a career-best 30 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Chicago Bulls, 142-131. The Nuggets won for the 13th time in the past 14 contests against the Lakers, including ousting the Lakers in the playoffs the past two seasons. Serbian star Jokic failed to achieve his sixth consecutive triple-double, managing only eight assists, but his effort was plenty as Michael Porter Jr added 24 points and 11
TWO-NIL LOSS: Taiwan’s best chance to score came at the top of the fifth with the bases loaded and one out, but Venezuela’s Liarvis Breto got out of the jam Taiwan yesterday suffered a shutout 2-0 loss to Venezuela in the opening game of the WBSC Premier12 Super Round at the Tokyo Dome. Taiwan had seven hits, one more than Venezuela’s six, but catcher Carlos Perez’s two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning delivered the only runs scored by both teams and secured victory for Venezuela. Taiwan’s best chance came at the top of the fifth inning with the bases loaded and only one out. However, Venezuela reliever Liarvis Breto struck out Chen Chen-wei before reliever Pedro Garcia finished the inning by allowing an infield flyball by Lin
As sporting celebrations go, it does not quite have the charm of Roger Milla’s hip-wiggling shimmy with a corner flag at the 1990 World Cup or the imperious swagger of Usain Bolt’s iconic lightning pose. However, a dance move inspired by US president-elect Donald Trump’s stilted on-stage boogieing has rapidly become the celebration of choice across the US sporting world. From the blood-soaked UFC to the hard-hitting NFL and the reliably decorous world of the LPGA Tour, athletes across North America have succumbed to the viral Trump dance craze in the past week. On Monday, US soccer star Christian Pulisic became the latest