The Celtics had struggled in tight games over the last two weeks, with three losses in games decided by four points or fewer, including most recently a 109-105 loss to Golden State on Saturday. Irving is on a tear, scoring 20 or more points in his last eight games, averaging 28.1 points while hitting 49 percent of his shots from the floor and 44 percent from three-point range in that span.

NY has scored at least 107 points in six straight games and 10 of their last 11 outings. Meanwhile, Trey Lyles had 20 points and seven rebounds off the bench, while Will Barton added 19 points, seven boards, and seven assists in 44 minutes of play. I just saw (Jokic) closing out and I was like, 'I need to take advantage of this.' I was driving it and I was going to go finish strong, and at the last second, the guy came and helped. "We've been winning more close games this year than in the past - I really don't care as long as we win". The Nuggets got the defensive rebound following a missed basket by Irving with seven seconds left and they didn't call a timeout to advance ball, giving themselves a better chance to score the game victor.

Irving led all scorers with 27 points (11-17 FG) and six assists.

"They're talented. They put us in a lot of tough spots, and I thought our guys battled".

"We missed some defensive assignments, and I thought we missed some good opportunities on offence, but they found a way".

The Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown probably lived by that mantra when he finally sank a three-pointer in the dying seconds at the Pepsi Centre in Denver on Monday.

After the game, Kanter, asked about the possibility of replacing the injured Kevin Love on the LeBron James All-Star team, laughed and said, "I might ask for a trade". The bench also hit on 10 of 17 3-point shots. Nikola Jokic secured the rebound with 9.4 seconds to play and delivered the outlet pass to Murray, who drove into the lane and kicked the ball back out to Gary Harris.

Mason Plumlee had 16 points and eight rebounds before he left with a leg injury in the fourth.

The Nuggets had run into a nice groove with three straight wins prior to yesterday's loss to the Celtics, though Chandler's role with the team has certainly diminished, as he's averaging single digits scoring for the first time since his rookie season.

Jokic and Jamal Murray have played at a high level over the last five games for Denver. It only featured two players: Rudy Gay (right heel bursitis) and Kawhi Leonard (return from injury management).

Will the San Antonio Spurs cover the spread tonight as a sizable home favorite when they host the Denver Nuggets at 8:30 p.m. ET?

Spurs defense - It's hardly ideal for a tired Nuggets team to go back on the road to face that formidable Spurs defense.

Boston, which was 10-of-21 from 3-point range in the half, was a torrid 7-of-11 in the first quarter while taking a 32-21 lead.

At one point during the third quarter, the Nuggets were seven-for-seven in the paint and eventually finished the game with 54 points in the paint.

Dwight Howard had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Nicolas Batum made five threes and finished with 22 points for Charlotte.