Nuggets Braun rues taunting Gobert

Mohamed Magdy  

36 w

Nuggets' Braun rues taunting Gobert

Denver Nuggets wing Christian Braun threw down a spectacular poster dunk over a four-time Defensive Player of the Year but felt regrets about the play as he left the Target Center on Friday night.

Braun blamed himself for a celebration that caused a confrontation with Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, saying the double technical fouls halted Denver's momentum.

"I got to be more responsible," Braun said after the Timberwolves rallied from a 10-point deficit to hand the Nuggets a 119-116 loss. "It's two points. Obviously, those are the plays you want to make and those are the momentum plays I want to make, but getting a tech throws the momentum their way, so I got to do a better job of controlling myself."

Braun drove down the middle of the lane, launched just inside the dotted line and slammed the ball in with two hands despite Gobert contesting it with 5:14 remaining.

After he landed, Braun flexed his shoulders and took two big strides into Gobert's chest. Gobert responded by putting his left arm on Braun's neck and shoving him away. Players and staffers from both teams, as well as the officials, prevented the confrontation from escalating.

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