Celtics leave things till late to chew up Nuggets' win streak
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Jayson Tatum holds off Denver's Will Barton as he jockeys for position. The Boston forward led all scorers in their 105-87 win.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LOS ANGELES • Jayson Tatum tallied 28 points and 10 rebounds as the Boston Celtics snapped the Denver Nuggets' eight-game National Basketball Association (NBA) winning streak with a 105-87 come-from-behind victory on Sunday.
Romeo Langford hit two free throws to give the Celtics an 80-79 lead early in the fourth quarter, their first lead of the contest.
The visitors were fuelled by a 31-3 run that spanned parts of the third and fourth quarters after Denver led by 14 points in the third.
"I think we just picked up the intensity," Tatum said. "I think we communicated a lot better. We started switching a little bit more. I think that helped us out, too.
"That was big. Because we could have let it get away from us."
The forward's 28 points came just two days after he scored a career-best 53 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Both Tatum (illness) and Jaylen Brown (knee) were doubts to play leading up to the start of Sunday's contest but showed no signs of discomfort on the road.
Brown had 20 points and eight rebounds, while teammates Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker scored 14 each. Robert Williams added 10.
"We just needed something to get us going," Boston coach Brad Stevens said of their late push.
Nikola Jokic had a triple-double of 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for the hosts, while Michael Porter Jr had 22 points and 11 rebounds.
Denver scored just eight points over the final 14min 17sec of the game, missing 22 of their final 25 shots. They remain fourth in the West while the Celtics (28-26) kept hold of seventh in the East.
Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Clippers ended a 7-2 homestand on a winning note, but not without a fight from East cellar dwellers Detroit Pistons, who stayed in the game until the last three minutes of a 131-124 outcome on Sunday.
Marcus Morris Sr led the hosts, third in the West and 37-18 for the season, with 33 points while teammate Paul George finished with 32 points and nine assists.
The Pistons (16-38), who completed their road trip at 2-3, got 26 points from Josh Jackson and 25 from Saddiq Bey. The teams meet again tomorrow in Detroit.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
