BSJ Game Report: Nuggets 102, Celtics 100 - Denver's stars outshine Boston's for first Garden loss

Everything you need to know about the Celtics loss to the Nuggets, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

The first quarter was a shootout between Kristaps Porzingis and Nikola Jokic, both of whom could barely miss. The Celtics couldn't really take advantage of the non-Jokic second-quarter minutes but they started forcing turnovers and misses about halfway through to push their lead to 12, with it ultimately settling at six at halftime. Denver got the lead back down to one by the end of the third quarter thanks to the Jokic/Jamal Murray combo, and they took an early lead in the fourth to start a back-and-forth quarter. Boston had chances, but couldn't score in the final 1:40, including a potential game-tying shot from Jayson Tatum at the buzzer.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Denver’s stars shine while Boston’s … well … : Jokic finished with 34 points on 14-22 shooting, 12 rebounds, and nine assists. Murray finished with 35 points on 15-21 shooting, eight rebounds, and five assists. Tatum and Jaylen Brown COMBINED for 35 points on 15-43 shooting, with 10 rebounds and six assists. It was a rough night for both of Boston’s stars to have duds. 

- Missed opportunities: The real blueprint for beating the Nuggets is hanging around and playing them even with Jokic on the floor and then beating their bench, but Reggie Jackson was +10 and Peyton Watson was +7. Meanwhile, Sam Hauser was -5 and Payton Pritchard was an even zero. I’m certainly not blaming those guys, but their +/- indicates how things went. Those stretches to start the second and fourth quarters were Tatum minutes, and that's where he should have shined. 

- First home loss: They were never going to go perfect at home, and at least they lost to a good team so it makes some kind of sense. This was a very physical, intense playoff-like atmosphere. The Celtics got great contributions from some secondary scorers and won some of the margins they strive to hit. They got poorly-timed rough nights from their two best players, and it cost them. 

TURNING POINT

Jokic answered Boston’s 7-0 run to take a 98-95 lead by hitting two tough shots to give Denver the lead. Then Michael Porter Jr. made it a three-point game with 2:27 to go. Brown missed two free throws and the Celtics missed two 3-pointers after collecting offensive rebounds. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Derrick White: He got to the free throw line at one point and got LOUD MVP chants from a crowd that recognized the impact he was having. 24 points on 9-18 shooting (5-12 3pt) with five assists, two steals, one block and just one turnover is a monster game. At one point, I thought the Celtics were going to win this game despite some of the missed opportunities just because White was so good. 

- Attacking Jokic in pick-and-roll: I really thought the Celtics had done a great job attacking Jokic and wearing him out late in the third quarter. 

“We kept trying to put him in actions on the defense to try to make him as tired as we could towards the end of the game,” Porzingis said. “Those are the things you have to try to do against a guy like that. Otherwise, if you just let him rest on defense, then you're in trouble on the other end.” 

They were still in trouble on the other end because Jokic is incredible. But they did what they were supposed to do to make it not the case. 

- The double-big adjustment: I think going to double-bigs was generally an effective counter to just having Porzingis guard Jokic. Horford came in and did a decent job. I thought it was pretty smart to go with that as much as possible. 

- Protecting the ball: Three turnovers is just incredible. They had two individual turnovers and a :24 violation that goes down as a team turnover. It’s almost unfathomable that they lost a game where they held a 15-point advantage in points off turnovers, an 18-point advantage in 3-pointers, a four-point advantage in points in the paint, and were even at the line. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Ends of quarters: Joe Mazzulla has emphasized ending quarters well, but they didn’t in this one. They were up five with 1:45 to go in the first and ended up one. They were up 12 with 3:30 to go in the second and finished up six. They were up nine with 3:40 to go in the third and finished up one. And they were up three with 4:51 to go in the fourth and lost by two. This is a key point Mazzulla makes very regularly. This is why I said after the third that losing the non-Jokic minutes and finishing quarters poorly rarely goes unpunished. This really is where the game was lost. Obviously, Denver is a great team with an MVP player so they have a say in all of this, but it’s that exact reason why the focus had to be there to finish stronger. 

- Offense bogged down: Boston scored 39 points in the second half. They put up 32 in the first quarter. The game got physical and Boston went cold. I thought most of the 3-pointers they took were shots we normally consider to be good. There were a couple in there that maybe felt like settling, but that's going to happen in every game.

- Zone struggles: The zone defense wasn’t quite as effective as it was against Toronto. I have to go back and watch it again, but it didn’t feel like Denver simply snuffed it out. It felt like there were some mistakes in the execution of it. 

- The final shot(s): I liked Tatum being aggressive at the end but he needed to recognize he was going one-on-four and there was no need to rush the contested layup. 

At 21.3 seconds to go and and seeing two guys in front of him, he has to just pull that out and either they call a timeout to set the play, or they just call a set that they like to run. They had Murray and Porter on the floor to attack and Tatum was a little too anxious. 

Then, after Aaron Gordon gave them a gift by missing a free throw to keep it a two-point game, Tatum kind of did the same on the final shot.

“I think I kind of rushed it and that’s on me,” Tatum said. “In the back of my mind, I wasn’t sure if they were going to foul. They had a foul to give. But I had more time than I gave myself, so I should have taken some more time. But, can’t go back, so something I can learn from.”

- The hanging on the rim tech: Dear god just eliminate this stupid rule for the love of everything holy.

HIGHLIGHTS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- Tatum needs to learn from this.

Those last two shots were not the best by him. He’s progressed a lot, but he still needs to find calm in the most intense moments.

“Yeah. You know, in those situations, you always want to be aggressive and then let your instincts take over and try to make the right play,” he said. “But I missed a couple of bunnies at the end. I gotta be better and just really finish those.”

Tatum is great, but there's another level for him to reach. He has to navigate the moments better to get there.

- Not everything is a referendum on Mazzulla’s coaching. 

Honestly, it’s getting tired. The Celtics are 32-10, we’ve seen great progression from most players this season, they're working in new defensive coverages, and they’ve gotten to a much more fluid offense. This team is coached well. 

The challenge here for people is to stop basing opinions on whether shots fall or not. If Brown makes two free throws and the Celtics hold on, the talk becomes about how the Celtics weathered a storm, adjusted to some early issues, and won a physical battle with less than perfection from their stars. 

To hear someone like Kendrick Perkins, who should know better, be inflammatory about Mazzulla on television is one of the reasons why these opinions persist. 

Can this Celtics team be better? Yes it can. Failing a test like this is frustrating in the moment, but it’s not the end of the world.

On a related note: if you’re complaining about getting to the rim, Boston got to the restricted area 17 times to Denver’s nine. They made 13 shots there to Denver’s eight. Denver was 16-25 in the midrange. Boston was 4-12. Denver made shots. 

Next Up: The Celtics hit the road for three games, starting Sunday night in Houston