Boston Celtics 5th quarter: Jaylen Brown delivers a dagger in Denver
In a game the Boston Celtics needed, Jaylen Brown came up clutch in the team’s 111-110 victory over the Denver Nuggets Monday night.
The Boston Celtics entered the 4-game West coast trip on a 3-game losing streak. After losing the first game to the Los Angeles Lakers, Brad Stevens’ crew bounced back to beat the Los Angeles Clippers, play the Golden State Warriors tough and beat the Denver Nuggets late Monday night to end the trip at 2-2.
Most importantly, the Celtics have seemed to figure some things out on the offensive end of the court. In the team’s 111-110 victory over the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center, Jaylen Brown erased a horrid shooting performance by nailing a clutch 3-pointer to put Boston ahead and ultimately land the C’s a most needed win on the road.
Brown, who was 0-4 on 3-pointers and 3-for-10 overall on the right before the 3-pointer, showed off his confidence in even taking the clutch shot. It is the type of big moment shot that can really boost the offense of a young player like Jaylen Brown.
It was all set up by some nice veteran play from big man Al Horford. With the game tied at 108, Horford received a pass from Kyrie Irving. After driving past Nikola Jokic, Horford found Brown in the corner for the dagger with 33.3 seconds remaining on the clock.
In a game the team needed, Brown said following the game that he was not missing.
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"“I missed every shot prior to it,” Brown said, via Masslive.com. “I was like, ‘I’m not missing this. No way I’m missing this one.’ So I was open. Everything that happened before it didn’t matter. I just had to make a shot.“I had supreme confidence. I’m always confident when I let it go. I just wanted that one extra bad, so when it went in I was relieved.”"
Jaylen Brown finished the game with just 9 points, but 3 of those points may have been the biggest of the team’s season from a confidence stand point.
Al Horford on making the play of the game
Al Horford showed just way he is an NBA All-Star with his veteran play in the final minute of the game. Not only did the big man make the right decision, he showed his trust in Jaylen Brown and his ability to knock down such a clutch shot.
"“I just saw him (Nikola Jokic) closing out and I was like, ‘I need to take advantage of this,’” Hortford said, via Celtics.com. “So I was driving it, and I was going to go finish strong in the paint, and at the last second the guy (Trey Lyles) came and helped and I saw JB in the corner and just made the right play, and he knocked it down.”"
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The win not only allowed the Boston Celtics to finish the trip at 2-2, it kept them ahead of the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference. Now the team returns home to face off against the New York Knicks.