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 Guard Avery Bradley scored eight of his 18 points in the fourth
quarter and the Celtics held on to beat the Denver Nuggets 100-99 on
Friday night.
Forward Brandon Bass had 17 points and forward Jared Sullinger
scored 14 for the Celtics, who won their second close game in as
many nights.
"This was the second game in a row we were able to close out,"
Bradley said. "At the beginning of the year we were losing close
games. We didn't know how to close out."
Boston beat Portland by one on Thursday night on a corner 3-pointer
by guard Evan Turner. It was their first Western Conference road win
since Feb. 25, 2013.
Friday, it was Bradley's turn to be the hero. He scored 15 of his 18
points in the second half, with the final eight coming in the last
3:29.
His last shot, which gave Boston a three-point lead, was an
off-balance 20-footer over Nuggets guard Jameer Nelson.
"I knew the shot was going to go in before I even shot it," he said.
"I was that confident. I slipped and I knew it was going to go in."
 The Nuggets were without point guard Ty Lawson, their leading scorer
who was arrested early Friday morning on the suspicion of driving
under the influence. Lawson was away from the team for "personal
reasons," coach Brian Shaw said, but will be back at practice on
Saturday.
Nelson filled in and scored 23 points in his first start for Denver,
and guard Arron Afflalo had 20. Forward J.J. Hickson had 15 points
and 14 rebounds for the Nuggets, who have lost five in a row.
"They were making a lot of baskets and I had a wide-open three to
tie it," Afflalo said. "There were a lot of plays throughout the
game we should have capitalized on.
Denver could have used Lawson down the stretch when the lead changed
hands several times.
Bradley gave Boston a 93-91 lead with a 3-pointer, Nuggets forward
Kenneth Faried's layup tied it and Celtics guard Evan Turner's
jumper made it 95-93 with 2:53 remaining.
Nelson's driving layup tied it again, and a free throw by Hickson
gave Denver a 96-95 lead with 1:34 left. Bradley responded with his
fourth 3-pointer of the night that gave Boston a two-point lead
again. After forward Wilson Chandler split two free throws,
Sullinger was called for an offensive foul with 56 seconds left.
Nelson missed a layup and Bradley hit a 20-footer with 26 seconds
left to give the Celtics a 100-97 lead.
"He was big time," Turner said. "He hit a lot of big shots. He
stepped up to the challenge and tried to stop Jameer."
Faried's putback with 14.7 seconds left cut it to one. Turner missed
two free throws at the other end, and coach Brad Stevens joked about
it after the game.
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"I told Evan it was great strategy to miss both on purpose," Stevens
said. "I wasn't quite sure why, but it worked."
Turner gave it right back to his young coach.
"I wanted to give him gray hairs," he said. "He looks like his 15. I
want him to be able to go to bars and not get carded."
Nelson brought the ball down but his step-back 18-footer over
forward Tayshaun Prince was off.
"Tayshaun is known as a good defender his entire career," Nelson
said. "He forced me to take a tough shot. Could I have gotten a
better one? Maybe. It was a good look; I got the separation that I
needed. I've just got to make the shot, make the play. I felt good
it looked good."
Nelson filled in well for Lawson, scoring 15 points in the first
half to help the Nuggets take a 48-42 lead.
Forward Danilio Gallinari returned to the Denver lineup after
missing four weeks with a right knee injury. He missed his first six
shots from the field and didn't score until he hit two free throws
with 1:13 left in the third quarter to give the Nuggets a one-point
lead.
NOTES: Celtics F Kelly Olynyk flew back to Boston to have his
sprained right ankle examined. Olynyk was hurt in Boston's win at
Portland on Thursday. Coach Brad Stevens said Olynyk will not rejoin
the team on the road trip. ... Nuggets C JaVale McGee was suited up
but did not play Friday. McGee has missed 24 straight games with a
lower left leg strain but could return soon. He missed all but five
games last season with a stress fracture in the same area. ...
Boston signed G Andre Dawkins to a 10-day contract and assigned him
to the Maine Red Claws of the NBA D-League. ... Denver G Jameer
Nelson was acquired from Boston on Jan. 13.
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