DENVER — Guard Avery Bradley scored eight of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and the Boston 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 time, it came against a team missing its best player.
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.
Guard Jameer 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.
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.
Faried’s putback with 14.7 seconds left cut it to one. Turner missed two free throws at the other end, but Nelson missed a game-winning jumper in the final seconds.
Nelson filled in well, 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.