Celtics Close On A 40-8 Run To Shock The Nuggets In Denver To Start A Pivotal West Coast Road Trip

 

    How about those Celtics (28-26 overall, 11-16 away)? They started their difficult three-game West Coast road trip with a bang this afternoon as they won 105-87 against the Nuggets (34-19 overall, 18-10 home) at the Ball Arena (seriously, that's what their building is now called). It looked like it would be a routine loss for Boston as they trailed by double-digits in the third quarter but then they locked it down with a 40-8 run that included outscoring the home team 31-8 in the fourth quarter. Yes, Nuggets star point guard Jamal Murray was out with a knee injury but the C's-who are not a good defensive team by any measure-holding Denver to eight points in the fourth not to mention their lowest scoring output of the season and worst shooting percentage (36.4%) are all major reasons to celebrate for a few days. 

    With the victory, Boston has won three games in a row and five out of their last six. Coming off his career-high 53 point performance on Friday vs. Minnesota (14-40), swingman Jayson Tatum's (game-high 28 points, 10 rebounds) encore was pretty solid. He had plenty of help too as shooting guard Jaylen Brown (20 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks), point guard Kemba Walker (14 points, 6 assists), guard Marcus Smart (14 points, 5 assists) and center Robert Williams (10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks) all scored in double-figures as well. Last seen bitching about his touches in the bubble playoffs, Denver was led by small forward Michael Porter Jr. (22 points, 11 rebounds) as center/MVP candidate Nikola Jokic (17 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds) was (sort of) held in check without his running mate Murray to work with. In his place, point guard Facundo Campazzo scored 14 points and Brewster Academy product Will Barton added 13 points and six rebounds.

    The Nuggets entered as the hottest team in the league since they had won their last eight games in a row to reach fourth-place in the Western Conference. For that reason, I feel like this was near the top of the (very short) best wins list in 2020-21 for the Celts. If you claim that you saw this coming, you are a liar my friend. Denver was up 27-16 after the first quarter and 51-45 at halftime. Boston cut it to 79-74 heading into the fourth quarter before they morphed into the '98 Bulls. The C's shot 44.8% from the field, made five more free throws (20-15), grabbed six more rebounds (52-46) including nine more defensive boards (42-33), blocked three more shots (7-4), scored 10 more points in the paint (56-46), had eight more second chance points (21-13), five more fast break points (13-8) and seven more points off turnovers (11-4) than the Nuggets. 

   That huge rally out of nowhere today makes Tuesday (10, NBC Sports Boston) at Portland (31-22) and Thursday (10, NBC Sports Boston) at the Lakers seem more winnable. The Celtics just swept the season series with Denver who is currently ahead of both the Blazers and Lakers. It won't be easy by any means but Boston is finally playing some good basketball when it really matters-down the stretch of the regular season with the playoffs just around the corner. Tatum has started to resemble a superstar again and everyone else is playing their role which is all that head coach Brad Stevens can ask for after the non-stop turbulence of this campaign. 

For One Night, Winning Cures Everything For The Celts As They Beat Undermanned Denver 112-99

 

    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.