DENVER — — Sometimes Nikola Jokic’s triple-double is as meaningful as it is magical.
That was certainly the case Thursday night when Jokic recorded his 20th triple-double of the season and the Denver Nuggets held off a furious fourth-quarter push from Boston to beat the Celtics 115-109.
It gave the reigning NBA champions a preview of their season series with the Eastern Conference leaders.
Jokic had 32 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, including several on alley-oops against Aaron Gordon, who had 16 points on seven dunks and a running hook.
Jamal Murray added 19 points and eight assists as the Nuggets improved to 7-1 since the All-Star break.
It was Jokic’s 30th career 30-point triple-double.
“He’s just an incredible basketball player,” Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis said. “Some things I learned from him today, actually. He’s so smart, so crafty, so many things that you don’t see that he does on the field that help this team win. “It’s amazing. Anytime you help a little too much, “He’ll find Gordon, he’ll find all these guys. This shows how valuable he is to them. “
When asked what exactly he learned, Porzingis replied: “Whatever tricks he does, I’ll leave it at that.”
Perhaps some of this witchcraft Porzingis was referring to had to do with the Jokic-Gordon alley-oop game that is becoming as important a part of Denver’s arsenal as the Jokic-Murray pick-and-roll.
Gordon’s best dunk came on a missed layup by Jokic with two minutes remaining. Gordon grabbed the rebound with his right hand and put it through the basket for a 109-103 lead.
“It was a bad miss,” Jokic said, “but a great dunk.”
The two teamed up for a decisive alley-oop with 20 seconds left after Jayson Tatum’s 3-pointer for the lead with 40 seconds left.
Jaylen Brown scored a season-high 41 points and 14 rebounds for the Celtics, who hadn’t lost consecutive games since early November. But Brown was just 7 of 14 from the foul line.
“Maybe it’s the elevation,” Brown said. “I felt good shooting the ball.”
Boston missed nine free throws in total, while the Nuggets missed just one of 22 foul shots.
Porzingis added 24 points and 12 rebounds for Boston, and Tatum had 15 on a tough shooting night.
The Nuggets bench outscored Boston’s reserves 28-10, led by Peyton Watson’s 11 points and remarkable perimeter defense.
Both teams were coming off losses that ended long winning streaks. The Celtics’ 105-104 loss at Cleveland on Tuesday ended an 11-game streak, and Denver’s 117-107 overtime loss to Phoenix halted the Nuggets’ six-game streak.
If these teams are headed for a collision in the NBA Finals in June, this was a tantalizing preview. Both coaches viewed the matchup as a measure of sorts heading into the final stretch, with Denver’s Michael Malone noting Boston’s best record in the NBA and Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla calling the defending champions the league’s benchmark.
The match was everything expected from two top contenders.
Denver’s dynamic duo each had buzzers in the first half, with Murray sinking a 30-footer to end the first quarter and Jokic sinking a 12-foot shot with Porzingis in the face that gave Denver a 62-54 lead. half-time.
However, Boston quickly erased that deficit with a pair of 3s from Porzingis and a layup from Brown after the break.
“This team never goes away,” Malone said.
FOLLOWING
Celtics: Visit Phoenix Saturday night.
Nuggets: Host Utah on Saturday night.
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