Final: Nuggets 114, Celtics 105 -- C's stumble in fourth

Isaiah Thomas made a long awaited (but brief) return to the Garden parquet on Monday night and his team came out with a win as the Nuggets dominated the fourth quarter on their way to a 115-105 victory. Nikola Jokic (21 points) led seven different Denver players in double figures as the visitors used timely efficient offense and lockdown defense in the fourth quarter to pull away with the win. The Celtics dropped just their second game over their last eight contests after failing to recover from a 11-0 Nuggets run at the start of the fourth quarter. Kyrie Irving overcame a slow shooting start to finish with a game-high 30 points but he got little help from others as Al Horford was the only Celtic to notch over 20 points.

First Half Notes

• Another brutal start by the starting five as Nuggets go on 11-0 run in the open few minutes.


• Stevens manages to stabilize things with inserting Baynes into the game to guard Jokic, which helps with rebounding and rim defense


• Nice ovation for Isaiah Thomas that lasted well oveer 90 seconds after his video tribute following the first timeout


• Very rough start for Kyrie, beginning 1-of-8 from the field over his first few minutes


• Al Horford showing no signs of his sore knee by knocking down a couple early 3s after stretching the D. He’s been really taking advantage of Jokic in the pick-and-roll


• Bench minutes for Boston look much better with Morris taking on the Ojeleye’s role in the unit with Theis/Jaylen/Theis/Rozier


• Isaiah with a couple nice assists combined with some ugly misses and a turnover in his seven minute stint. C’s took advantage of him regularly on the defensive end as well, outscoring the Nuggets by eight points in the first half.


• Jokic already with a double-double in the first half alone, making the most of his moves around the basket.


• Murray and Smart having a war of words in the second quarter that results in Smart trying to take Murray 1-on-1 in a couple possessions that did not go over well.


• C’s fortunate that Denver is missing a lot of open looks from downtown early (4-of-16)

• Gordon Hayward is doubtful after being diagnosed with a concussion by team doctors on Sunday. Hayward collided with Hawks forward John Collins on Saturday and left the game after one minute. He was initially announced to have a strained neck, but the team followed up on Sunday saying he had entered the league's concussion protocol.


• Al Horford is probable to play due to left knee soreness after being limited minutes-wise in the second half of Saturday's game against the Hawks. He said after the game the injury had nothing to do with his Runner's Knee that sidelined him at the beginning of the year. Robert Williams is also questionable due to illness.


• The Celtics have won five of their last six games, including two straight at home, but they have done so in spite of their starting five. That group has a -21 net rating over the last six games, struggling particularly on the defensive end.


• Isaiah Thomas makes his first appearance as an active player at the Garden on Monday night, but it remains questionable whether he will see the floor after being pushed out of the Nuggets rotation last week by head coach Mike Malone. The Celtics will be very eager to see him no matter what his playing situation is though. "One of the reasons I came here was to play with him," Horford said on Saturday. "One of the things I always admire about Isaiah is his heart. He’s a good guy off the court but on the floor just leaving it all out there, it didn’t matter if he was hurt or if there was something wrong. He’s a guy that loves to compete, that plays hard, that plays to win and it’s just a lot of fun to be able to play with him. Now, he just needs to just continue to stay the course. I hope that he feels better because he can help that team a lot.”