Peyton Watson shoots lights out to lead Nuggets past Celtics

Peyton Watson shoots lights out to lead Nuggets past Celtics

Field Level Media
08 Jan 2026, 08:35 GMT+

(Photo credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images)

Peyton Watson scored 30 points and Jamal Murray added 22 points, eight rebounds and a career-high 17 assists to lead the visiting Denver Nuggets to a 114-110 victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.Watson made 6 of his 7 3-point attempts, including a 3-pointer that put Denver up 106-93 with 2:24 to play. Watson has scored at least 20 points in each of his last five games. The Nuggets outscored the Celtics 35-28 in the fourth quarter.Boston trailed 113-110 after Payton Pritchard made three free throws with 6.5 seconds left, but the Celtics didn't have another offensive possession after that.Denver's Nikola Jokic missed his fifth straight game with a knee injury. The Nuggets have a 3-2 record without him. Jokic is Denver's leader in scoring (29.6), rebounding (12.2) and assists (11.0).The victory improved Denver's road record to 15-7. No team has more road victories this season.Boston received a game-high 33 points along with seven rebounds and four assists from Jaylen Brown, who also committed seven turnovers. Neemias Queta had six points and a career-high 20 rebounds for the Celtics. Ten of Queta's 20 rebounds came at the offensive end.The loss ended Boston's four-game winning streak.Boston led 35-31 after one quarter and extended its lead to 41-34 early in the second, but Denver went on a 10-0 run to go up 44-41. It was 58-58 at halftime.A 12-0 run put the Celtics in front 72-63 with 4:25 left in the third. Denver went scoreless for a stretch of 6:33, but the scoring drought ended when Murray hit a 3-pointer with 4:11 remaining in the third. A 13-2 spurt gave the Nuggets a 76-74 advantage, but Boston had an 82-79 lead after three quarters.Denver had a 101-90 lead after two Zeke Nnaji free throws with four minutes left capped a 14-0 run.

--Field Level Media

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