The Celtics had their hands full with a Denver Nuggets squad playing without Nikola Jokic (illness) for three quarters but they did enough late to pull away with a 118-106 victory at Ball Arena.
Boston looked primed to cruise to the win early even without Derrick White (illness) after Jokic was a late scratch. They built a double-digit lead in the first quarter behind 37 points and an impressive early showing from Kristaps Porzingis (15 points in opening frame). However, the undermanned Nuggets fought back, putting together a 13-2 run in the second quarter to tie up the game at halftime. Balanced scoring and strong work on the offensive glass was the formula for the Nuggets to stay competitive while the Celtics offense stalled in the second quarter (20 points).
After squandering a 15-point first half lead, the Celtics and Nuggets played a nip and tuck game for most of the second half until Boston took command midway through the fourth quarter. With Jamal Murray on the bench, the Celtics erupted with a 15-0 run, breaking the game open in the final five minutes of the win.
Jayson Tatum (29 points) and Kristaps Porzingis (25 points, 10 rebounds led the scoring for Boston, who closed out their Western Conference road trip with a 3-1 record. Russell Westbrook (26 points) led six different Nuggets in double figures in the setback.
The Celtics now return home to Boston with two days off before hosting the Sacramento Kings on Friday night at TD Garden.
Kristaps Porzingis plays his best quarter and maybe game of season: The big man showed a different level of aggression in the first quarter against an undersized Nuggets squad playing without Jokic. With Boston starting with two bigs, Porzingis had mismatches early and often against a Nuggets starting five playing three guards. Porzingis piled up a season-high 15 points in the first quarter on 6-of-10 shooting with the majority of those points coming inside the arc. After looking uncomfortable at points against physical defenses in Houston and Oklahoma City, Porzingis looked closer to his form last year against smaller defenders, making him a very challenging cover within Boston’s offense. He provided some great work on the offensive glass late as well to help put the game away.
Celtics dare Nuggets to shoot early but strategy works late: Denver takes fewer 3s than anyone in the league but they are still rank fourth in the NBA in 3-point shooting. Despite this, the Celtics took their chances with plenty of the Nuggets mediocre shooters, giving plenty of room for the likes of Westbrook and Peyton Watson to get shots up. That strategy came back to bite the Celtics early as the Nuggets shot 50 percent in the first half from 3-point range while Watson and Westbrook made multiple 3s. In a bit of a stunner, the Nuggets also attempted more 3s than the Celtics throughout the game in a stunning development but the Celtics were able to lean on their size advantage down low to counteract. The Nuggets ultimately cooled off enough late (27 percent from 3 in fourth quarter) to help Boston pull away.
Jaylen Brown wakes up in second half: The All-Star forward went scoreless in the second half of Sunday’s loss against the Thunder and did not get on the board until late in the first half against Denver. However, he began to punish the Nuggets defense in the third quarter when he began to isolate against Jamal Murray, opening up the floor for himself and his teammates while collapsing the defense. The offensive spark helped the Celtics snap out of a second quarter funk (just 20 points scored) and take advantage of a Nuggets defense that did not have the bodies to slow down Boston’s firepower in the starting five. Brown scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime and also dished out a team-high eight assists.
Nuggets crush Celtics on the offensive glass early but Celtics : Despite playing without their MVP candidate, the Nuggets played desperate basketball in this game, particularly when it came to crashing the glass. The Celtics repeatedly let the Nuggets guards and wings sneak in for offensive rebounds despite their size advantage, which helped them stay in the game early on after following down by double digits. Boston tightened things up though on the glass in the fourth quarter, allowing just two offensive rebounds in the frame to help limit Denver to 23 points in the final frame.
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