Monday, April 12, 2021

NBA: Celtics use huge second-half run to topple Jokic, Nuggets

Jayson Tatum had 28 points and 10 rebounds, Jaylen Brown finished with 20 points and eight rebounds and the visiting Boston Celtics rallied to beat the Denver Nuggets 105-87 on Sunday.

Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker scored 14 each and Robert Williams III scored 10 points for the Celtics, who went on a 31-3 run in the third and fourth quarters.

Nikola Jokic had 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, Michael Porter Jr. had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Facundo Campazzo scored 14 and Will Barton had 13 for Denver. The Nuggets had their eight-game winning streak snapped.

Denver led 79-65 with 2:17 left in the third quarter but the Celtics took control from that point.

Walker scored seven points, Brown had six to get Boston within a point early in the fourth quarter, and Langford hit two free throws to give the Celtics an 80-79 lead, their first of the game.

The Nuggets missed 10 straight shots and had five turnovers following Campazzo's 3-pointer that put them ahead by 14. The run ended with Monte Morris' jumper with 10-footer with 7:08 remaining.

Tatum then hit a jumper and a long 3-pointer to give Boston a 90-82 lead with 6:20 left.

Jokic got a rebound to get his 14th triple-double of the season and 55th of his career but he turned it over, leading to a dunk by Williams. The Celtics made two more field goals after misses by Jokic to push the lead to 96-82 with 4:41 left.

Porter's three-point play broke another Denver drought and was just the second Nuggets field goal since late in the third quarter.

The Nuggets scored just eight points over the final 14:17 of the game and missed 22 of their final 25 shots.

Denver led by 14 late in the first quarter and by 11 in the final minute of the second after two free throws by Porter. Smart hit a 3-pointer and Tatum a layup with less than a second left in the period to cut the Nuggets' lead to 51-45 at halftime.

-reuters