It has been a rough week for the Celtics (14-13 overall, 7-4 home) and it felt like for once, nobody associated with the franchise (head coach, players, GM, etc.) was immune to some legitimate criticism after a pair of soul-crushing defeats to the Pistons (8-19) and Wizards (8-17). It would be silly to overreact and say that things are different now but at least in Boston's first chance at redemption, they responded in a big way by taking down Denver (15-12 overall, 7-6 away) 112-99 tonight at TD Garden. The fact that the Nuggets were playing without four guys from their rotation certainly helped the Celtics but honestly, any club with center/MVP candidate Nikola Jokic (game-high 43 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals) and point guard Jamal Murray (25 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals) in the starting lineup still presents a formidable challenge.
As always, the C's were led by shooting guard Jaylen Brown (team-high 27 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) and swingman Jayson Tatum (21 points, 8 assists) who were both instrumental in the victory. The plot twist for the home team was that they had many other guys pull their weight as well: with Daniel Theis out with a sprained finger, center Tristan Thompson had nine points and 12 rebounds; point guard Kemba Walker added 17 points while Boston's bench outscored Denver's 30-14. Rookie small forward Aaron Nesmith hit three 3-pointers, center Robert Williams notched eight points, eight rebounds and five steals (!) while rookie guard Payton Pritchard (8 points, 7 assists) continues to shine as veteran guard Jeff Teague racks up the DNP-CDs (did not play-coach's decision).
Jokic has become a freak of nature and I mean that in the highest form of praise that is possible. He is a matchup nightmare for anybody in the NBA because he has the size and post moves of an old school center yet he also can hit threes and pass like a point guard. The Joker basically single-handedly kept his team in it in the first half as he dropped 29 points while Boston led 30-26 after the first quarter and 59-54 at halftime. Murray's numbers look fine except I didn't mention his key stat: nine turnovers. Woof. The Celts outscored the Nuggets 27-21 in the third quarter and 26-24 in the fourth quarter to pick up their most important win of the season. Argentine point guard Facundo Campazzo (15 points, 8 assists, 2 steals) was the only other Nugget to score in double-figures which shows you just how much they missed their top role players.
The Celtics shot almost three percent better than Denver from the field (48.1%-45.2%), they hit six more 3-pointers (15-9), made five more free throws (19-14) and grabbed five more rebounds (43-38) including six more defensive boards (33-27). After such depressing back-to-back losses, this evening showed that when the C's are working together, they are capable of beating pretty much any other team in the NBA. Conversely, when things start to go off the rails, they proved that they can lose to the true dregs of the league just as easily.
I'll keep saying this until they start consistently winning again but the good feelings from tonight will be quickly erased unless they carry it over to tomorrow night's (7:30, NBC Sports Boston) contest with the Hawks (11-16 overall, 5-7 road). Boston seems to be catching Atlanta at the right time for a two-game set at the Garden (they also play on Friday at 7:30 as well) since the Hawks are free-falling out of playoff contention by losing four straight games coming in and going 2-8 in their last 10. Also, their head coach Lloyd Pierce will miss both games to be at the birth of his second child. Assistant coach Nate McMillan (former Pacers head coach) will be in charge for these matchups. Regardless, if point guard Trae Young (who is on the cusp of making his second All-Star Game in a row) and power forward John Collins are playing along with center Clint Capela, Atlanta is very dangerous and the Celts simply cannot afford to relax for a second thinking that they'll just roll over.
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