Published By: Siddarth Sriram
Last Updated: March 08, 2024, 14:19 IST
United States of America (USA)
Nikola Jokic in motion for Denver Nuggets (Credit: AP)
Jokic had 32 factors, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, a number of of them on alley-oops to Aaron Gordon, who had 16 factors on seven dunks and a operating hook.
Sometimes, Nikola Jokic’s triple-double is as significant as it’s magical.
That was actually the case Thursday evening when Jokic recorded his twentieth triple-double of the season and the Denver Nuggets withstood a livid fourth-quarter surge by Boston to beat the Celtics 115-109.
That gave the reigning NBA champs a sweep of their season collection with the Eastern Conference leaders.
Jokic had 32 factors, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, a number of of them on alley-oops to Aaron Gordon, who had 16 factors on seven dunks and a operating hook.
Jamal Murray added 19 factors and eight assists because the Nuggets improved to 7-1 for the reason that All-Star break.
It was Jokic’s thirtieth profession 30-level triple-double.
“He’s just an incredible basketball player,” Celtics heart Kristaps Porzingis stated. “Some things I learned from him today, actually. He’s just so smart, so crafty, so many things you don’t see that he does on the floor that helps that team win. It’s incredible. Whenever you overhelp just a little bit, he’ll find Gordon, he’ll find all these guys. It speaks to how valuable he is for them.”
Asked what precisely he had realized, Porzingis stated, “a couple of tricks he does, I’ll leave it at that.”
Maybe a few of that sorcery Porzingis was referencing needed to do with the Jokic-Gordon alley-oop sport that’s changing into as massive part of Denver’s crunch-time arsenal because the Jokic-Murray decide-and-roll.
Gordon’s finest dunk got here off a missed layup by Jokic with two minutes remaining. Gordon corralled the rebound together with his proper hand and windmilled it by way of the basket for a 109-103 lead.
The two teamed up for a sport-sealing alley-oop with 20 seconds left after Jayson Tatum’s 3-pointer for the lead with 40 seconds remaining rimmed out.
“It was a bad miss,” Jokic stated, “but a great dunk.”
Jaylen Brown scored a season-excessive 41 factors and had 14 rebounds for the Celtics, who hadn’t misplaced consecutive video games since early November. But Brown was simply 7 of 14 from the foul line.
“Maybe it’s the elevation,” Brown stated. “I felt fine shooting the ball.”
Boston missed 9 free throws total, whereas the Nuggets missed simply certainly one of 22 foul pictures.
Porzingis added 24 factors and 12 rebounds for Boston, and Tatum had 15 on a troublesome capturing evening.
The Nuggets’ bench outscored Boston’s reserves 28-10, led by Peyton Watson’s 11 factors and stellar perimeter protection.
Both groups have been coming off losses that ended lengthy profitable streaks. The Celtics’ 105-104 defeat at Cleveland on Tuesday snapped an 11-sport run, and Denver’s 117-107 time beyond regulation loss to Phoenix halted the Nuggets’ six-sport surge.
(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
