NBA: In battle of streaking squads, Celtics edge Nuggets in triple OT

With both teams entering the game boasting of impressive streaks, one side was going to have to go home disappointed. The Boston Celtics made sure that squad was the Denver Nuggets. After three grueling overtime sessions, the Celtics finally put away the Nuggets thanks to Jason Terry's heroics, 118-114, Sunday (Monday, PHL time) at the TD Garden in Boston. The Celtics snapped a nine-win run for the Nuggets, putting them at 33-19, while improving to 27-23, stretching their own mark to seven victories in a row. After trailing for most of the game, the Nuggets got their first lead of the game at 90-89 in the fourth quarter, on a jumper by Ty Lawson, but a technical charity and a jumper by Jeff Green gave Boston a two-point lead, 92-90. Off a foul, Kenneth Faried missed two charities, and Andre Miller failed to connect a put-back, but on the third opportunity, Lawson forced the first overtime period, connecting on a banker with 0.8 seconds left in regulation. In the initial overtime, Paul Pierce drew first blood, but a 7-2 run by the Nuggets had them up by three, 99-96. Green however countered with a corner trey, 23.8 left on the clock, and Lawson was unable to be the hero anew, missing on their last possession, as the teams entered a second overtime. The Nuggets went to Lawson again, and the gutsy point guard connected for his 28th and 29th points of the game to arm the visiting side with a 107-104 advantage. Not to be denied, Pierce drained a triple to tie the game, and Danilo Gallinari missed a lay-up with a second left, triggering overtime number three. Kevin Garnett scored the first six points of Boston in OT3, putting his side up by three, 113-110, 2:19 to play. Gallinari equalized on the other end, canning a triple with a little under two minutes left, but Jason Terry got it back with his own long-range bomb. Gallinari then split free throws, and then a turnover and a missed triple by Andre Miller did the Nuggets in, as Terry hit a last-second lay-up for good measure. Boston drew an astounding triple-double from Paul Pierce, who finished with 27 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists. Jason Terry came off the bench to drain 26 markers, while Kevin Garnett had a double-double of 20 points and 18 rebounds, plus six assists, two steals and three blocks versus a single turnover. The Nuggets had 29 points and nine assists from Ty Lawson. Danilo Gallinari and Kenneth Faried had double-doubles, 18 and 10, and 14 and 12, respectively, in points and rebounds, while JaVale McGee hauled in 16 boards and swatted three shots off the bench.

Andre Iguodala has a right cervical strain. He will not return. #Nuggets

— Chris Dempsey (@dempseypost) February 11, 2013

Andre Iguodala was limited to just 20 minutes of action, after suffering a right cervical strain. Boston's outside shooting and connections from the stripe allowed them to see this one through. They shot 13-of-30 on triples, compared to 8-of-26 for Denver, and 19-of-24 from the stripe, versus 10-of-17. - Adrian Dy, GMA News