Jokic and Jamal lead “all in” Nuggets as they beat NBA-best Celtics

The NBA title favorite Boston Celtics hadn’t lost at home all season, going 20-0—that is until they ran into the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets on Friday night.

Juiced by the legendary pair of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray the Nuggets, beat the holders-of-the-NBA’s-best-record Celtics 102-100. Coming back from down a few times, the tight game was put on ice by stout Denver defense down the stretch, holding Boston to 39 points in the second half. It was Jokic and Murray, who were responsible for 66 of Denver’s 69 first-half points, who closed it for Denver. Jokic scored 34 points on 22 shots and had 12 rebounds and nine assists while Murray dueled his stat line with 35 points on 21 shots with eight rebounds and eight assists.

“You’re playing against the best team in the NBA, it was like a playoff game,” Michael Malone said after the contest. “They were in the Finals two years ago. There were the Eastern Conference Finals last year. They have high hopes, as do we… it was a game that we were all in, we put all of our chips in and we were lucky enough to get the outcome that we desired.”

It was shades of Game 3 of the NBA Finals where the center and point guard each scored triple-doubles in a Denver win. The two were the first to do that in an NBA game let alone a playoff game or Finals, and became just the eighth two-piece to each score 34 or more in Boston Garden.

Denver tightened its rotation to nine and only played seven guys 20 or more minutes—using their best starting five in hoops to go right at the best team thus far in the NBA. Malone utilized his team like a playoff matchup, and given Denver had played just once since last Sunday and don’t play again until Sunday—it was a rare look ahead at the team come April.

But Friday meant a bit more for Jokic—no, not because he just got outdueled by longtime rival Joel Embiid on Tuesday, but because of a friend. Jokic lost his former Serbian coach Dejan Milojevic to a heart attack suffered on Wednesday while on the road with his now team, the Golden State Warriors. This was Jokic’s first game since that, and Malone had already shared a message about carrying on Milojevic’s legacy.

“The last couple of days, it’s just been supporting him, comforting him, giving him a hug,” Malone said. “I mentioned to our team after the game that I couldn’t be more proud of Nikola, for playing the way he played with with the tragic passing of Milojevic. That’s why I’m proud of Nikola, you just love somebody that you love and care about, who was a mentor and a coach to you. So go honor him.”

“I mean, and Nikola went out there he honored Milojevic’s memory and his legacy by playing at the level that he played at, so not easy to do with a heavy heart, but Nikola is a special person obviously, and it was incredible to watch him play with that heavy heart and the level he played against when you consider who we were playing. And you’ve heard everything else to the mix, and that’s why Nikola is the best player in the world.”

The Nuggets will get another shot at the Celtics in Denver come March. If either team makes a move at the deadline, that may be more the Finals preview. But it was good to see the Nuggets can still flip that switch, and even do it on the road against a possible team they would have to win one on the road against while on the biggest stage.