The Boston Celtics avenged a close four point loss in Denver two weeks on Friday night as they put three players in double figures led by 26 points from Jayson Tatum to defeat the Nuggets 108-95 at TD Garden in Boston.
Boston (16-5) led from the start and never trailed as Kemba Walker drove for a layup and Daniel Theis hit a three-pointer on the first two possessions for a quick 5-0 lead. The Celtics led by 10 in the opening quarter before going up 15 on three different occasions in the second quarter and by eight at the break. A Paul Millsap three-pointer cut it to five early in the third quarter for Denver (14-6), but that is as close as the visiting Nuggets would get. With 5:27 left after Jamal Murray hit a jumper to cut it to single digits again at eight, Boston finished the quarter on a 20-7 run highlighted by a Jaylen Brown slam and a Tatum three-pointer with 1.7 seconds left to make it 85-64. The hosts pushed it to the biggest lead at 23 twice in the final quarter in winning their third straight game.
Tatum added seven rebounds and five assists to his team high in points on 10-19 shooting for Boston. Brown had 21 points and seven rebounds, while Walker had 19 points, three assists, and two steals. Nikola Jokic had a game high 30 points for Denver, with 10 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. Murray was the only other Nuggets player with double digits finishing with 10 points. The Celtics are now 9-0 at home this season, and are also 11-0 when they hit at least 13 three-pointers in a game. Boston will host Cleveland on Monday night at 7:30 p.m.
