GAME: No. 30 of 82
WHO: Celtics (23-6) vs. Nuggets (15-12)
WHEN: 7:30 EST
WHERE: TD Garden
RADIO: 100.7 WZLX
TV: NBC Sports Boston
BOX SCORE: NBA.COM
Projected Starting Lineups:
Celtics
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Marcus Smart
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Aron Baynes
Nuggets:
PG: Jamal Murray
SG: Malik Beasley
SF: Gary Harris
PF: Trey Lyles
C: Mason Plumlee
Third quarter notes
- Defense continues to be optional for both teams. That’s understandable for the Nuggets, on the second end of a back-to-back during the final stop of a six-game road trip. Less so for a Celtics team that can’t seem to get a defensive stop when they need it.
- Denver is shooting well and when they missed they are finding the loose ball. They’ve outrebounded the Celtics 14-3 on the offensive glass.
- Gary Harris caught absolute fire in the frame, posting 26 points through three quarters. No one on the Celtics can guard him, but the same can be said for Irving (11 points in third).
- Jaylen Brown continues to develop into the kind of offensive weapon that allows the Celtics to get away with giving Al Horford the night off. He was 8-of-10 with 23 points through three quarter, showing off some great touch from all areas of the floor.
First half Notes
- Nuggets can out flying on offense, starting 6-of-6 from the field. A lot of it was lazy defense (three dunks) but Denver has one of the best offenses in the league (7th overall) so they can put up buckets with the rest of them.
- Seeing this, Brad Stevens went to Semi Ojeleye over Jayson Tatum at power forward just three minutes into the game to try to stop the bleeding. Trey Lyles scored five quick points out of the gate and Ojeleye’s presence quieted him down.
- Both teams were still on fire early overall, with not much defense being played on either end. C’s shot 55 percent from the field behind 10 points from Kyrie Irving, while the Nuggets took advantage of seven offensive rebounds to post 31 points (six second chance points).
- Nuggets guards also abused Irving defensively, running him pick-and-rolls constantly to combine for 21 points on 10-of-17 shooting for the half.
- The Celtics really got rolling offensively on their early in the second quarter, with a 20-10 run that was fueled largely by Shane Larkin (8 points on 4-of-4 shooting). The guard ran circles around the Nuggets bigs and also managed to slow down the Denver backcourt with his defense.
- Incredibly efficient early night by the C’s frontcourt as well. Aron Baynes, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown went a combined 13-of-15 in the first half for 33 points, feasting on one of the worst defensive teams in the league.
- Overall, the C’s played one of their best offensive halves of the year, shooting 61.9 percent from the field and 46 percent from 3-point range (6-of-13).
- They also managed to slow down the Nuggets in transition (13-2 edge in fast break points) which helped them build a nine-point halftime lead.
Pregame Notes:
- Brad Stevens confirmed before the game that Gordon Hayward had his walking boot removed for good after a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. "It’s another box to check," Stevens said. "There’s a big difference between getting out of the boot and playing in an NBA game, though. So he’s got a long way to go. But it’s good that he has these things as goals, and he keeps checking them off. And he’s working really diligently at it. And he feels good about that. So that’s a good thing.”
- Stevens on giving Al Horford the night off: “Yeah. Just looking over the schedule, not only over the first month and a half but then what’s coming. We tried to identify in advance a 3-day window. So obviously he leads us in minutes. We ask a lot of him. So this is something that we had talked about four weeks back with our sports performance group. It’s not ideal. We need him to be the best version of ourselves but it’s a great opportunity for other guys to step up.”
- Kyrie Irving is feeling better after a one-game absence with a quad contusion and he'll suit up.
- Nikola Jokic remained questionable during pregame warmups with a sprained ankle. Nuggets coach Michael Malone indicated the team wouldn't know until gametime whether he will suit up.