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DENVER – With Jamal Murray's 30-meter uprising slamming from the front edge, preventing the Denver Nuggets guard from blowing for a 50-point night, Kyrie Irving stood, hands on his lap, looking in the direction of 21 years old sniper.
And when the ball bounced off Irving, the Boston All-Star guard swallowed the ball angrily and headed for Murray. But the court fills up quickly as Murray's teammates rush to celebrate his career night and Irving has to settle for a vocal complaint from a distance.
Murray staged a fascinating night, scoring 48 points on 19-of-30 career-highs, not only winning a face-to-face duel with Irving (31 points on 13-13 shots), but helping the Nuggets. emerge with a triumph 115-107.
But this last blow really angered Irving, who gave a disdainful wave in the direction of Murray, then turned and thrown the ball about 50 rows into the crowd of Pepsi's center.
Too bad for the boy who had to leave in search of the memory of Murray.
"I mean, what kind of competitor would not care?" Irving said after getting dressed quickly after Boston's defeat. "I understand if we made a mistake by going to the free throw line. I do not want to make it a big problem. Of course, I was pissed at the game, but it's time to decompress and move on. Congratulations to him for having 48 points. He did it in a wonderful way against us. Our defense must be better especially against a player like that in the pick-and-roll. He was the main concern tonight and he made us pay in some cases for hard shots and passes.
NUGGETS 115, CELTICS 107
"But the ball deserves to be in the crowd after a bull – … move like that, so I threw it into the crowd."
This is the kind of fire that the Celtics could have used earlier in the night when Murray alone kept the Nuggets afloat. Not so much that nothing seemed to work against Murray.
Denver's third-year guard scored 14 points in the first quarter, helping the Nuggets stay in the game after the Boston offense scalded while building an 18-point lead. Then Murray, the No. 7 pick in the 2016 draft, exploded for 19 points in the final frame, bolstering Boston's rally attempts.
Whenever it seemed like Murray's gas gauge had plunged empty, he was kind of invoking the energy to blow up another Boston defender and put a hard end in the hoop.
The only thing that tarnished his night was his defeat against the 50-point board. He missed a layup after dribbling off the ground with less than 20 seconds to play, and then started the 3 pointer on the ring after dribbling the clock. .
"It was just a fun game I had a lot of fun in. I think my emotion has taken over, as it normally is when I start like this," Murray said. "No disrespect to the Boston organization, the Boston fans for this last shot.I just thought I wanted 50 years old.
"I think everyone understood that it was what I was trying to do, I really did not want to disrespect myself, I know half of the team there, so no It was just a fun game and my emotions took over. "
NUGGETS 115, CELTICS 107
In the Celtics' locker room, the shot did not go well and veterans like Irving and Marcus Morris were clearly upset.
"I know him personally, so I'm not going to sit here and harass him – it was definitely unprofessional," Morris said. "If I were there, I probably would have done something, definitely unprofessional, but he's a young player, he'll learn later, I suppose."
Jaylen Brown was not too upset, but admitted that it was not going well for Murray.
"At this point, the game was over and we lost and at the end of the day, whether people are frustrated or not, I can see both sides," said Brown. "The game was over, the guy had a hell of a night, I felt it was a little disrespectful but, at the same time, let it go. What am I going to do? "
The Celtics spent most of the fourth quarter trying to calm Murray, but nothing worked, not even constant doses of Brown and Marcus Smart in the hope of stifling his motives.
When Murray did not finish the hard tests, he hit 3 points and shot fictitious arrows as the fans screamed with joy.
"We sent two [defenders] at his place most of this time in the fourth. At that time, it is only rolling a lot, said coach Brad Stevens. "I thought he had two easy ones that made him feel good from the start, he had a hard time pulling the ball in the game, at least from his level, and we left him. early.
"He scored 10 points in the first period, as we were really scoring the ball. And from that moment, he was just off. I mean, he was great. We tried many different things. None of them worked. He deserves credit. It was a sacred performance. "
With Irving also clearly locked, Murray seemed to feed only on the offensive battle that ensued.
"It's very fun to go against him, especially when you shoot both and you get the W," Murray said. Asked what he had learned from confronting Irving, Murray added: do not think about learning. I only went to school for a year. I only thought about putting the ball in the basket. That's what I've learned to do. It was a really fun game. He is a hell of a match. I think there was a point where we were both doing so much, we were just at the 3-point line, like, both tired. … my legs are killing me. "
For the Celtics, the biggest problem compared to Murray's last second is a 0-2 start for a road trip that has yet to get tough stops in Utah and Portland. The team has two days to recover before opening a back-to-back match in Phoenix.
Brown does not want his teammates to dwell on Monday's game.
"Nah, shake yourself, go to the next game," Brown said. "Just keep the same mentality, stay focused, stay locked up, stay away and keep going, you do not have time to contemplate the last one, so you have to keep going."
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