Blinksportsnews247BOSTON — Jamal Murray scored 35 points, Nikola Jokic finished with 34 and the Denver Nuggets held on to hand the Boston Celtics their first home loss of the season, 102-100 on Friday night.
Key Moment
Jayson Tatum put his head down and scrambled to his feet after a tough shot with 1:41 left to make it a one-point game. Unfortunately, the Celtics did not score from that point. Boston missed all three shots in the final 100 seconds, and each one had its own story.
Tatum drove to first again, but this time Derrick White was kicked out in the right corner. White had already hit five 3-pointers on the night, but this one dropped him. The next young lady came from Tatum in transition.
He grabbed a rebound with 22.7 seconds left on Aaron Gordon’s 3-pointer and immediately took the ball the other way. Several Nuggets defenders made plenty of contact as Tatum broke inside from the 3-point line — enough to put the ball in the air as he approached the rim. He somehow regained control and attempted a layup, but it missed and Tatum didn’t get the whistle either.The same can be said for the last shot of the game night, which also came from Tatum.
After a wild streak that included a Gordon free throw, a two-point foul, a jumper and two Celtic timeouts, all within 12 seconds, Tatum had a chance to send the game into overtime. . Boston put him in the post with 4.9 seconds left and he immediately worked up the jumper. Again there was a lot of contact. Again, there was no call and Tatum’s shot missed.With that, Denver held on by the skin of their teeth and won 102-100, and Boston’s undefeated home streak ended..
Key playerDerrick White was quite the Boston offense in the second half of Friday night. The Celtics scored a combined 39 points in the final two quarters, with White scoring 16.
Boston’s offense hit a stop sign in the final 24 minutes, shooting 16-for-42 from the field (38.1 percent). White, meanwhile, shot 6-for-12 from the field at a 50 percent clip. If he hadn’t been on the court in the second half, the Celtics wouldn’t have had a shot to win the game.
White finished the contest with a team-best 24 points, five assists, three rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot.
Box Score Nuggets Jamal Murray led the game in scoring with 35 points, followed by Nikola Jokic with 34 points.Jokic also led the game in rebounds (12) and assists (nine).Derrick White led the Celtics with 24 points and tied Jayson Tatum’s five assists.
Besides Jokic and Murray, only one Denver player scored in double figures (Michael Porter Jr. with 13 points).
Both teams struggled from 3-point range, with Denver shooting 8-for-31 (25.8) and Boston 14-for-44 (31.8 percent).Each teams bench scored 13 points.
Al Horford led the Celtics with 10 rebounds.Kristaps Porzingis scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Boston committed only three turnovers. Denver made four more shots than Boston (42-38), but shot eight less (81-89)..
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