Big dunk left rim bent, Celtics vs. Nuggets game delayed

DENVER (AP) — Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets players pissed off Celtics star Jaylen Brown for 35 minutes Sunday after a bent rim and no one seemed to know how to fix it. I struggled to maintain my body temperature during the bizarre night scene of .

Robert Williams III of Boston seemed to be the culprit. hung on the edge Following a thunderous dunk with 8:06 left in the fourth quarter. Shortly after, that rim was tilted slightly to the left.

“I didn’t know I did it until my teammates started blaming me,” Williams said.

After a timeout with 6:43 remaining, officials called the arena crew to level the rim after the Nuggets led 110-97 in a matchup of the NBA conference leaders. At first, several workers came out with tools such as ladders and spirit levels. However, there was a problem. One of his crew members answered the phone. Another ladder, more crew appeared.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone called the situation a “buzzkill.”

“There’s a joke there. How many guys does it take to fix a rim in an NBA game?” Malone said.

As the delay dragged on, players found unique ways to pass the time. Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon jogged from sideline to sideline. Marcus Smart of Boston sit alone Near the opposite free-throw line.

The Nuggets sought to entertain audiences with a constant diet of 1980s and 90s hits on big screen games and sound systems.Grant Williams of Boston I started dancing to a song.

At one point, the video board showed a close-up with a spirit level over the crew member’s rim. It still showed bending. The crowd booed as if the referee had given the Nuggets a bad call.

“I hope they changed the rims the right way,” Malone said.

Instead, the delay was extended to 20 minutes. A worker then removed the rim from the backboard to check. Players jumped around to warm themselves.

“They said there would be a rewarming period after some time,” Celtics interim coach Joe Mazura said.

The delay was starting to irritate Brown.

“There was no communication,” he said.

Finally, a worker put the rim back on and it appeared to be level. The crowd roared as the team ran through his line for a layup midway through the fourth quarter and got loose again.

Play resumed shortly after, but Brown was unsure if the problem had been resolved.

“They spent a lot of time fixing it, but when they came back it still looked, in my opinion, not level,” Brown said. I wasted that time.”

Jokic had 30 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists as the Nuggets won 123-111 in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Gordon, who scored 18 points, said, “It was handling business.

Brown scored 30 points in Boston.

“That’s how injuries and things happen,” he said. “In my opinion, the whole process was handled poorly and that was affecting me. Fortunately, no one was hurt.”

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