(Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)
Final: Nuggets 115, Celtics 109 - Nuggets out-execute Celtics all night long
BOSTON CELTICS at DENVER NUGGETS
10 p.m., TNT/NBCS Boston
Line: Boston -1.5
INJURIES
Boston: Jaylen Brown (QUESTIONABLE AVAILABLE, low back strain), Neemias Queta (OUT, knee)
Denver: Vlatko Cancar (OUT, knee)
LAST TIME
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. This was Boston’s first home loss of the season.
NOTES
- Denver’s overtime loss to Phoenix snapped a six-game winning streak.
- Denver is currently one game behind Minnesota and Oklahoma City for first place
THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR
1. Bounce back: The loss to Cleveland has been called a teachable moment for the Celtics, so let’s see what they’ve learned. The first lesson is about focus throughout the game. I’m not so worried about their focus coming into this game as I believe their attention on this game is partly why they let go of the rope against the Cavs. The Celtics want this game just like they wanted the Warriors game. But let’s just make sure that focus is there for 48 minutes. And if they get into a last-possession situation, there's no reason not to properly execute.
2. Rebounding: The Nuggets are sixth in the NBA in offensive rebounding percentage, one of seven in the league above 30%. A lot of those are Jokic tip-ins, so they need to keep Jokic from getting deep position.
3. Attack Jokic early: They need to spend the first quarter putting Jokic in every action (a) to take advantage of his defensive limitations on the perimeter, and (b) to wear him out for later in the game. Denver might be anticipating this and they’ll go into some pre-switches to change things up, so Boston has to be creative with it. Once again, horns sets are great for this because shooters will space out to the corners, and they won’t put Jokic out there. Running a bunch of horns sets will bring Jokic up no matter what … and on the off chance he DOES pick a corner shooter, then that guy has to cut to punish that decision.
Follow along with my thoughts as the game goes on. They’ll show up below and in the comments section, so hop in and share your opinion as well.