Nikola Jokic recorded his 20th triple-double of the season with 32 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists, and the Denver Nuggets defeated the Boston Celtics 115-109 on Thursday night.

Denver swept the season series and has won seven of eight since the All-Star break. Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 19 points, Aaron Gordon added 16 points, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Peyton Watson each had 11 points.

Brown finished with 41 points and 13 rebounds, both season highs, but missed seven free throws. Kristaps Porzingis had 24 points and 12 rebounds, Jayson Tatum had 15 points, and Jrue Holiday had 12. Boston dropped consecutive games for only the second time this season.

Denver led 62-54 at halftime, but Boston scored the first eight points of the third. The teams traded buckets before Denver embarked on a 14-5 run to lead 82-73 and 90-80 heading into the fourth quarter.

Murray dunked for the first points of the fourth quarter. The Celtics scored the next five points, but Denver responded with four consecutive to reestablish its double-digit lead.

Porzingis scored a jumper to make it 101-93, and Tatum had an opportunity to reduce the gap when he stole the ball from Murray, but the Nuggets recovered and turned it into a dunk for Gordon with 5:13 left.

Brown’s three-pointer and a technical on Jokic allowed the Celtics to trim the deficit to 105-98. Porzingis sank a 14-footer to cut the deficit to five, and Gordon added a putback slam to make it 109-102.

Holiday pulled Boston within two with a pair of three-pointers, Tatum missed a three-pointer that would have put the Celtics ahead with 45 seconds left, and Jokic fed Gordon for another dunk to make it 113-109 with 19.8 seconds left.

Derrick White missed a three-pointer, and Denver held on. Murray scored a 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter to put the Nuggets up 30-28, and they never trailed the rest of the game.

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