{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Basketball Association
Denver 115, Boston 109
When: 10:00 PM ET, Thursday, March 7, 2024
Where: Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado
Officials: #25 Tony Brothers, #32 Marat Kogut, #12 CJ Washington
Attendance: 19855

Nikola Jokic had 32 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his 20th triple-double of the season, and the host Denver Nuggets overcame a big night by Jaylen Brown to beat the Boston Celtics 115-109 on Thursday night.

Denver swept the season series and has won seven of eight out of the All-Star break. Jamal Murray scored 19 points, Aaron Gordon contributed 16 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Peyton Watson had 11 points each for the Nuggets.

Brown had 41 points and 13 rebounds, both season highs, but missed seven free throws. Kristaps Porzingis had 24 points and 12 rebounds, Jayson Tatum finished with 15 points and Jrue Holiday added 12 for Boston, which lost consecutive games for just the second time this season.

Denver led 62-54 at halftime, but Boston scored the first eight points of the third. The teams traded buckets before Denver went on a 14-5 run to go ahead 82-73 and took a 90-80 lead into the fourth quarter.

Murray dunked for the first points of the final period. The Celtics scored the next five points, but Denver answered with four straight to restore a double-digit lead.

Porzingis hit a jumper to make it 101-93 and had a chance to pull closer when Tatum stole the ball from Murray, but the Nuggets stole it back and turned it into a dunk for Gordon with 5:13 remaining.

Brown's three-point play and a technical on Jokic gave the Celtics a four-point trip to cut it to 105-98. Porzingis hit a 14-footer to trim the deficit to five and Gordon had a putback dunk to make it 109-102.

Holiday got Boston within two with a pair of 3-pointers, Tatum missed a 3-pointer that would have given the Celtics the lead with 45 seconds left and Jokic fed Gordon for another dunk to make it 113-109 with 19.8 seconds remaining.

Derrick White missed a 3-pointer and Denver held on.

Murray hit a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer to put the Nuggets ahead 30-28, and they didn't trail the rest of the night.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Boston   Denver
Jaylen Brown 41 Scoring Nikola Jokic 32
Jayson Tatum 8 Assists Nikola Jokic 11
Jaylen Brown 14 Rebounds Nikola Jokic 12
Jaylen Brown 7 Free Throws Made Nikola Jokic 10
Jaylen Brown 2 Steals Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 3
Sam Hauser 1 Blocks Peyton Watson 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Boston 109 45.1 11-38 16-25 24 47 3 6 12
Denver 115 50.0 4-21 21-22 27 45 4 10 8
Upcoming Games
  • Denver will play their next game at home against Utah. The Nuggets have a W/L % of .674 after a win and .700 after a loss.
  • Boston will play their next game on the road against Phoenix. The Celtics have a W/L % of .755 after a win and .846 after a loss.