Jayson Tatum scored 24 points and Marcus Smart added 22 as the Boston Celtics extended their winning streak to 7 games with a 108-102 victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets on Friday.
Robert Williams had 15 points and 16 rebounds for Boston, which trailed 88-86 with 8:26 left before closing the game by outscoring the Nuggets 22-14.
Celtics guard Derrick White contributed 15 points and 6 rebounds off the bench in his 1st game since being acquired from the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday.
Nikola Jokic paced Denver with 23 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists. Aaron Gordon scored 17 points, Facundo Campazzo had 14, Will Barton added 13, and Bones Hyland had 10.
Jokic has recorded a triple-double in 8 of his past 14 games for Denver, which has lost 4 of its last 6.
White's layup put Boston ahead 100-97 with 1:59 left, and the Celtics hit 4 straight foul shots to extend the lead to 7 with 40 seconds remaining.
After the Nuggets pulled within 104-99 on Jokic's basket with 31 seconds left, Boston secured its 4th straight home victory at the foul line.
Denver took an early 11-point lead with 4:54 left in the 1st quarter before Boston closed on a 15-6 run to cut the deficit to 32-30.
Gordon and Barton scored a combined 21 points in the 1st half for Denver, which held a 60-51 advantage at the break.
Smart had 5 rebounds and 7 assists for Boston, which moved ahead 69-65 after his basket with 5:09 left in the 3rd quarter capped a 15-2 run.
Denver closed the period with 7 straight points and carried a 79-76 lead into the final quarter.
Boston regained the lead at 92-90 with 7:19 left in the contest after Tatum's technical free throw capped an 11-2 run.
Jokic tied the game at 95 by making one of his three 3-pointers with 5:28 remaining.
-reuters-
