The Denver Nuggets had only one lead in regulation against the Boston Celtics on Sunday night, but with 18.9 seconds left in the second overtime it looked like they would extend their winning streak to 10 games.  Ty Lawson, who finished with game highs of 29 points and 55 minutes, curled off a screen and rattled in a shot from the top of the key to bump Denver’s lead to 107-104.  At the other end the Celtics offense stagnated.  A pick and roll went awry and Paul Pierce was left outside the 3-point line with Andre Miller on top of him.

But Miller was wary of fouling Pierce like he had on the last Celtics possession.  Pierce created inches of space and knocked in a three to tie the game and carry the Celtics to a third overtime.  From there a rested Kevin Garnett took over, nailing three mid-range shots before Javale McGee could put a hand in his face.  Jason Terry ended the Nuggets chances with a 3-pointer, a forced turnover and a dribble out to a layup that gave the Celtics (27-23) a 118-114 win in triple overtime at TD Garden in Boston.

“I would love to tell you I had something to do with it,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers after the game about Pierce’s game-saving shot.  “I was sitting just like the fans praying, ‘Please, Lord, Paul make a shot.’”

Pierce finished 27 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists in 54 minutes.  Garnett got a breather in the second overtime but still played 47 minutes.  He had 20 points, 18 rebounds, six assists, two steals and three blocks.  Terry netted 26 points.

Lawson took the game to overtime for Denver (33-19) with a teardrop bank shot around Avery Bradley and over Pierce that tied the game at 92.  Andre Miller created the opportunity.  With 5.6 seconds left Kenneth Faried drew a blocking foul on Pierce.  Faried missed both free throws, but Miller slashed all the way from his position behind Faried into the lane for a follow-up shot.  Miller missed but Avery Bradley knocked the ball out of bounds with 3.6 seconds left.  Miller threw the ball into Lawson from the baseline and Lawson gave himself plenty of space to tie the game.

Denver worked its way to a three-point lead in the first overtime until Jeff Green buried a corner 3-pointer off an interior pass from Garnett.  Denver had its biggest lead of the game in the second overtime, 103-99, with 2:45 left.  Green sparked the Celtics again with a swooping left-to-right hook in the lane over McGee and an intercepted pass on the defensive end.

“I don’t give a damn what people say about us,” Green said after the game, citing outside reaction to his team’s seven-game winning streak.  “We just gotta continue to do what we do, and just got to continue to get better.”

The Nuggets hit their win streak average of 114 points but it took three overtimes to get there.  After eight straight quarters of scoring 25 points or more, Boston held Denver to 19 points in the first and took a 29-19 lead.  Two 3-pointers from Paul Pierce and four steals propelled the Celtics to a 12-0 lead in the first four minutes.  Denver turned the ball over seven times and shot only 41 percent in the first quarter.  They finished the game with 21 turnovers.

Boston finished the first quarter shooting 52 percent, heating up the Garden a day after it was subjected to over two feet of snow.  But then it got icy again.   The Celtics offense finished the game shooting just 39 percent. It was 43 percent shooting behind the 3-point line, thirteen made threes and a 19-for-24 performance at the free throw line that made the difference.

Doc Rivers denied George Karl his 400^th win as the Nuggets coach a few days after earning his 400^th win for the Celtics.

All seven wins in Boston’s streak have come without All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo, who is set to have surgery on the partially torn ACL in his right knee later this week according to Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports.  The Nuggets dropped to 11-16 on the road, and the Celtics are now 19-9 in the Garden this season.

Boston came into this matchup on over 48 hours of rest.  Denver played in Cleveland on Saturday night.  Tomorrow night in Charlotte the Celtics will understand what possible fatigue affected Denver tonight.  Tip-off against the Bobcats is 20 hours away.