Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown lead Celtics over Denver

Jaylen Brown had his poster moment last night, going elbows high over Malik Beasley for a transition dunk late in the third quarter.

The Garden air was still sizzling when, 30 seconds later and with nine-tenths of a second on the clock, Jayson Tatum stepped back for a well-covered and impossibly deep 3-pointer.

On yet another night when the two young stars seemed bent on trading highlights, the Celtics got everything they wanted in a 108-95 win over Denver.

They shot 53.7 percent overall, 37.1 percent from 3-point range, and Tatum led the charge with a 26-point, 10-for-19, four-trey performance. Brown, one game after coming within a point of his career high with 31 points against Miami, scored 21, including a one-minute first quarter stretch when the guard buried three 3-pointers in a minute.

Brown’s hot start, in turn, set a tone that would last the rest of the way for the Celtics, who backed up their work with enough defensive pressure to limit Denver to 41.5 percent shooting.

The Celtics closed out the third quarter with a pulverizing 11-0 run over the last 1:51. Brown and Tatum provided two house-razing moments, the former with a flying dunk off the break over Beasley, and the latter with a deep 3-pointer with nine-tenths of a second left for an 85-64 lead.

The theme continued onto the Celtic bench, with rookie Javonte Green opening the fourth with a dunk off the break that forced Nuggets coach Michael Malone to call another in a chain of frustrated timeouts.

By the time Green drove again, this time with a lefty drive over Nicola Jokic, the Celtics had a 93-73 lead with 6:18 left.

Brown’s 13-point first half, including a 3-for-5 performance from downtown, staked the Celtics to a 53-45 halftime lead, with Tatum’s 12-point performance over the same stretch providing a potent two-pronged attack.

The Celtics opened the third scoring in short, potent bursts, including a five-point swing from Tatum that triggered a 7-3 run, also closed out by the forward for a 65-53 lead with a drive off a crossover dribble.

The Nuggets pulled as close as nine points twice, but were leveled when the Celtics unloaded with an 11-0 run over the last 1:51 of the quarter. Brown and Tatum provided the closing pop, the former with a dunk off the break over Beasley, and the latter with nine-tenths of a second left with a deep 3-pointer for an 85-64 lead.

Brown, clearly still in the same groove that produced 31 points against Miami on Wednesday night, buried three 3-pointers over a one-minute span early in the first quarter, and finished the frame with 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting.

The Celtics, thus ignited, departed the first with a 33-26 lead over the Nuggets.

Tatum immediately took over with eight points on three shots over the first 2:15 of the second quarter, including a late-clock 3-pointer over Juancho Hernangomez after initially getting sealed off in the paint by the Nuggets forward.

By the time Tatum drove for his 10th point of the quarter with 7:18 left in the half, the Celtics led, 45-32. Kemba Walker’s rainbow jumper from the baseline boosted the lead to 15 points.

The Nuggets eventually trimmed that down to 51-45 with an 8-0 run that Murray, scoreless to this point, drove with four points.

Walker got in the way with a drive for a 53-45 lead, which held up when Jokic missed at the buzzer.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2PpVc6I