DENVER -- Everything you need to know about the Celtics’ 111-110 win over the Nuggets in quickie form.
HEADLINES
Horford plays hero: While Kyrie Irving (27 points) and Jayson Tatum (20 points) did the offensive heavy lifting for most of the night for Boston, Al Horford was the man of the hour during crunch time. The All-Star hit a clutch 3-pointer with under two minutes left and set up Jaylen Brown for the eventual game-winning 3-pointer with 33 seconds left to break a 108-108 tie. The Nuggets had a chance for the win when they rebounded an Irving miss with five seconds remaining but Will Barton failed to see an open teammate in the final scramble for a transition shot and airballed a 28-footer.
Shorthanded bench comes up big: Offense was a big problem for the second unit in Golden State but that was far from the case in Denver. The bench combined to score 38 points on 48 percent shooting from the field despite playing without a true point guard in Marcus Smart (hand) or Shane Larkin (knee). Brad Stevens went big with this group and they were red hot from the perimeter, going 10-of-17 from 3-point range. All of those points would be needed after the visitors blew a 20-point first half lead and managed to fight back for the win late.
TURNING POINT
The Celtics fell behind by as many as six points in the second half after blowing a double-digit halftime lead. However, Irving led an 11-2 charge midway through the fourth quarter that put the Celtics back out in front for the good. The visitors never trailed the rest of the way.
TWO UP
Irving: The point guard is simply putting on a show over the past couple weeks. He scored a game-high 27 points on Monday night (11-of-17 FG) which was in line with his incredible efficiency of late. Over the past five games, Irving is averaging 31.2 points per game on 59 percent shooting from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range. Incredibly, the Celtics have won just two of those contests.
Tatum: The rookie shook off an ugly performance in Golden State to post his best scoring output since Christmas day. His 20 points came on just 13 shots, as he worked a lackluster Nuggets defense for much of the night with an array of drives to the rim and long jumpers. He’s now scored 18 or more points in two of his last three games.
TWO DOWN
Aron Baynes: The center remains a bit too trigger happy when he gets the ball in space. He attempted ten shots in just 17 minutes and only made three of them. His finishing around the rim remains lackluster lately and he only grabbed three rebounds. Daniel Theis was the far better center for much of the night.
Barton: The Nuggets guard missed a wide-open teammate streaking down the middle of the floor on the game’s final possession. Instead, Barton tried to take the ball all the way down the floor himself and rushed up a desperation 3-pointer that missed everything. Mike Malone should have called a timeout to set up a play, but Barton needs to have his heads up in that spot.
TOP PLAY
HOW??? pic.twitter.com/R4RzQ5geZq
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 30, 2018