Rapid Recap: Jaylen flexes as Celtics survive Jokic explosion for much needed win

NBA: Denver Nuggets at Boston Celtics

You know those nights when you sleep with your mouth open and can’t get to the mouthwash fast enough in the morning? Well, tonight’s 112-99 win over Denver was that minty fresh swig for a Celtics team who needed to spit out the remnants of Sunday’s disaster vs Washington.

Nikola Jokic (43 points, 16-23 FG, 5 rebounds, 6 assists) showed us why he’s getting a lot of buzz for MVP. But the big man faded late, while Jaylen Brown (27 points, 5-10 3 FG) made big shot after big shot to quell just about every Nuggets run in the 2nd half.

Brad Stevens shocked the world by calling Aaron Nesmith’s number in the 1st quarter and the rarely used rookie responded with a solid game (9 points, 2-4 FG, 5 rebounds in 24 minutes). Rob Williams flashed his potential (8 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals in 20 minutes against the crafty Jokic) as Daniel Theis sat with a boo-boo finger.

The bottom line… the Celtics played a helluva lot better than what we witnessed on Sunday. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

Box score

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