Nuggets win first place in series since 2013

BOSTON – Isaiah Thomas had his due and the Nuggets had their victory. Most importantly, Denver locked his first place in the playoffs of the coaching era Michael Malone.

"I think we realized very early this season that we had a chance to have a special season, and that remains the case," said Malone, adding, "I told guys after:" We should feel good about it. Life is about celebrating moments. "

Denver hailed his 114-105 victory on Monday night with Nikola Jokic's three points, Gary Harris and Paul Millsap, while the Nuggets survived a tough playoff season.

The victory assured, there will be more to come.

Jokic took the Nuggets with his good night of 21 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, and six other Nuggets finished with double-digit numbers. Millsap had a double double 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Denver (47-22) dominated the Celtics on the board of directors and is close to the Golden State Warriors at the top of the Western Conference. The warriors lost 111-105 to San Antonio.

But Boston did not go quietly.

Kyrie Irving, the most devastating striker of the Celtics, drilled a 3-pointer in the corner to reduce the deficit to 106-101, with 1:22 left. He finished with 30 points, but was just 10-of-23 from the field.

Shortly after, Millsap drained his triple from the top of the bow and made a mistake to frost him.

"In fact, I had already spent four pieces in this room," Millsap said. "It was great to put a dagger in it."

The Nuggets returned seven times in the third quarter only and would have dropped the game if he had not had time to shoot at 3 points. Monte Morris and Will Barton buried three straight points to tie at 75, and Torrey Craig added another late. Craig eventually finished a basic dunk with 1.1 seconds to tie at 80 before the fourth.

Although the game has won the first playoff Nuggets ticket since 2013, Thomas, who played his first game in Boston since his contract with Irving in 2017, played his first game.

The TD Garden crowd roared as the Celtics broadcast a captivating video in tribute to Thomas for two minutes in the first stop of the game. The video – a fusion of his most memorable shots as Celtic – is coming to an end and the cameras are immediately spinning to an emotional and grateful Thomas, recognizing the standing crowd.

"It's love when the city makes you after giving everything for a city and a team," said Jamal Murray. "I was a big fan when he was here."

A few minutes later, Malone replaced Thomas in the game, to the delight of the faithful of Boston. The Celtics fans cheered when he dribbled the ball the first time wearing a shiny pair of green Nikes. With the exception of two assists, his career was marked by two failures and a turnover.

"It's never an individual," said Malone before the match, while justifying his decision to shorten his rotation. "It's not just Isaiah Thomas, it's up to me to make decisions based on what's best for our team … He's a competitor, you know who he is."

Their meeting in November ended with slight controversy when Murray, then sitting on 48 points, took one last shot to try to overtake the 50 with the game already in hand. Irving did not like the move and quickly pushed the ball back into the stands.

While the Celtics may have been obsessed with Murray's dubious shooting, Malone said it did not even cross the minds of his players.

"Hey, let's go and fear that Kyrie is not checked," Malone said sarcastically. "It's a basketball game, we have 14 games to play in. When we met yesterday in practice and today, no one has spoken today about this bad blood, so we have to be ready to deal with this intensity and the urgency that is needed. "