Jayson Tatum off mark in clutch as Celtics fall to Nuggets

DENVER — For the second time this week — and for the second time this season against the Denver Nuggets — Jayson Tatum had the ball in his hands with a chance to put his Boston Celtics ahead in the closing seconds.

Once again, Tatum didn’t take advantage of his opportunity.

With the Celtics down by two, Tatum missed a wide-open corner 3-pointer with 45 seconds to go, capping an ugly performance on what turned out to be Boston’s final chance to take the lead. After the miss, Nikola Jokic finished a 32-point, 12-rebound, 11-assist triple-double with a lob to Aaron Gordon for a dunk that extended Denver’s lead in its 115-109 victory.

“That corner 3, it was a good shot,” Tatum said. “I thought it was going in. We had some opportunities.”

That Boston (48-14) even had a chance to win was sort of remarkable, given how listless Tatum was throughout. He finished with 15 points on 5-for-13 shooting to go along with four rebounds and eight assists. In addition to that wide-open missed 3, Tatum also had a couple of crucial turnovers in transition in the fourth quarter, made several passive drives to the rim and was generally not as involved as he normally is.

“I think with the dynamic of our team, when other guys kind of got it going in a rhythm, in a flow … you got to space the floor,” Tatum said when asked about his performance. “We always talk about respecting other people’s space. If that calls for being in the corner or passing them the ball, that’s what we’re trying to do on that possession. You got to honor that.”

The Celtics stayed in the game thanks to a sensational performance from Jaylen Brown, who had 41 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in 41 minutes. But they repeatedly cost themselves with sloppy play, giving the Nuggets (43-20) a 16-6 edge in points off turnovers, and finished 11-for-38 (28.9%) from 3-point range.

“Just too many mistakes,” Brown said. “Against a good team, we gotta take advantage. Turnovers, free throws, just missing the defensive assignments, all of that stuff, we gotta be better at.

“And that starts with me, it starts at the top, starts with Jayson. … We made too many mistakes, and it cost us the game.”

The Nuggets were ruthless in exploiting those mistakes, particularly Jokic, who had a second straight masterful performance against Boston. His 32-point triple-double Thursday night came after he had 34 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists in Denver’s win in Boston in January.

Jokic repeatedly found himself in single coverage against Kristaps Porzingis and used his size and strength to bully himself down to the basket for easy buckets. When Boston brought a double team, Jokic would often respond by hitting Gordon for several lob dunks, including the one that ended Boston’s comeback hopes with 19 seconds to go.

“He’s the center that I’ve always, the player that I’ve always dreamed of playing with,” Gordon said of Jokic afterward. “He’s someone…