BSJ Game Report: Celtics 105, Nuggets 87 - Massive run ends Nuggets streak

Everything you need to know about Boston's 105-87 win over the Denver Nuggets, with BSJ insight and analysis

Box Score

What a win! The Celtics did not look good at all early on. The early start seemed to be messing with them. Nikola Jokic looked like the MVP candidate that he is. The Celtics did a good job hanging around for most of the game, but the Nuggets were the hottest team in basketball and Jokic’s third-quarter run felt like a good team imposing their will on an okay team. Then things changed. 

“We needed something to get us going, and we were close to going the other way there when it was 76-62,” Brad Stevens said. “But we stayed the course. The defense, as far as the individuals and their effort and physicality and toughness, coupled with that spurt that (Jaylen Brown) and Kemba (Walker) put on at the end of the third, and I left them in. I just felt that group needed to play longer. That was a lot of Kemba and JB in altitude. So be it.”

Attacking works!  The Celtics were 19-26 in the restricted area, taking advantage of a team not known for its rim protection. Walker, Brown, and Tatum all made it a point to get to the rim. In the first half, Boston took 11 shots at the rim and 17 3-pointers. In the second half, They took 15 shots at the rim, and 16 3-pointers. In the fourth quarter, they took 8 shots at the rim, and 6 3’s. 

And about that defense: The 8 points Denver scored in the fourth quarter matched the Celtics' record for fewest points allowed in any fourth quarter of the shot clock era (8 pts, Nov. 22, 1993 vs. Indiana). 

“I think we were up 14 toward the end of the third quarter and we probably had four straight turnovers,” Denver head coach Michael Malone said. “That just kind of ignited them.”

The Celtics went on a 31-3 run to end the game.

TURNING POINT 

The game started to turn when Nikola Jokic went to the bench late in the fourth quarter, and Boston went on a 9-1 run. Boston put this thing away when Jayson Tatum checked in at the 9:55 mark of the fourth and scored Boston's next 10 points.

TOP PLAY

Okay so Tatum stepped out of bounds, but they didn’t call it, so it stands as a great play.

https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1381354181441642496

SIX UP

Jayson Tatum: His fourth-quarter spurt was a thing of beauty. Half of his 28 points came in the fourth, and he scored at every level. 

Jaylen Brown: Brown did his damage in the third quarter, hitting 5 of 6 shots, including his two made 3-pointers on the night. He also dished two assists in the quarter, including one play where he caught a Tatum airball and got it back out to him for a 3-pointer.

Kemba Walker: He didn’t hit a 3-pointer, and he was not good in the first half, but he turned in on in the second. He was 3-4 at the rim after halftime. In fact, since the All-Star break, Walker is shooting 73.2% within five feet. He was shooting 54% before the break. 

“Just kind of taking my time, trying to utilize my body, utilize my quickness, as much as I can,” Walker said. “I’m trying to get the ball up on the backboard as quick as I can. But yeah, it’s all about rhythm, and the more I get there, the better it’ll get.”

Grant Williams: The Celtics went small with Williams at the 5 and then started switching everything. Boston made their run, Jokic got frustrated, and that was that.

“It was just a matter of making it tough for him,” Williams said. “I was just trying to take him out as rhythm, as well as make it easier for the guys around me because we were getting beat on back cuts and a lot of stuff at that time.”

Romeo Langford: Langford and Williams were on the floor for a big part of the turnaround, and it was their defense that made it happen. Langford didn’t attempt a shot, but he was a +20.

ONE DOWN

Robert Williams: This is a little bit of a reach because he did get better later in the game. Really this is more about another tough start for him. It’s almost like he’s reverting to some bad habits and he’s lost some focus over the past few games. Again, he turned it around in the second half, and putting him in this section could be called a little unfair, all things considered.

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

I’m not saying this is the turning point of the season, but it sure could be. The Celtics picked up a great win in the most unlikely game of the trip. Now they head to Portland to face a tough Blazers team on Tuesday and they finish with a depleted Lakers team on Thursday. 

Suddenly a 2-1 trip feels feasible. And a sweep of the trip, while unlikely, would seriously change the vibes around the team. 

This goes back to the team’s last two wins. They pulled out a tough, physical win over New York. They came back to beat Minnesota after a slow start. And now they beat the hottest team in the NBA with an epic fourth quarter. They were down heading into the fourth in all three games. 

I’m not taking a victory lap on my “be patient, I still think the turnaround is possible” takes yet, but I’m stretching out. They’re not in the class of the top three seeds, and no one should have expected them to be that this season, but they could climb out of this bunched-up second tier. 

This game should be proof that Brad Stevens did not lose his team. There is a very loud chorus of voices that want Stevens gone because, they say, he’s lost his team. 

If he had, this comeback wouldn’t have happened. Stevens adjusted, went small and started switching on defense, and stretched out the lineups with a group that was responding well. 

He made adjustments, the team listened, and it worked. 

This isn’t meant to be some grand defense of Stevens. It’s simply to show the evidence that the team is still listening to what he’s saying. The talk of losing the team needs to end.