The Denver Nuggets have lost two of their last three games but look to bounce back against the visiting Boston Celtics on Wednesday night. Denver’s slow starts and end of game lapses have cost them recently, while the Celtics are winners of 4 in a row and 9 of their last 10. They are in rhythm and have been defeating Western Conference foes easily, with their latest win coming against the Phoenix Suns in a game Jaylen Brown sat out. Denver is favored in this matchup by 3.5 points but is only 15-11 at home this year, a startling lack of success on a home court that provides so many advantages. Can Denver reclaim their home court advantage and get a win versus a team among the best in the Eastern Conference, or will they let yet another team come into Ball Arena with a complete lack of fear and force another loss for the Nuggets in front of their own fans?
The Basics
Who: Denver Nuggets (36-22) vs Boston Celtics (38-19)
When: 8:00 PM MST
Where: Ball Arena, Denver
How to watch/listen: Altitude TV / League Pass
Rival Blog: Celtics Blog
Injury Report | Nuggets: Jamal Murray—probable (hamstring); Julian Strawther—probable (toe); Tamar Bates—out (foot); Aaron Gordon—out (hamstring); Jalen Pickett—out (knee); Peyton Watson—out (hamstring)
Boston Celtics: Jaylen Brown—probable (knee); Jayson Tatum—out (Achilles rehab)
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: Will the Nuggets care enough to give it their all? Denver has been playing a non-physical, half-hearted style of basketball both before and after the All-Star Break. They had 4 quarters’ worth of effort to obliterate the Portland Trail Blazers but in too many other games they haven’t cared enough to defend down the stretch or take care of the ball. Careless mistakes, inadequate effort, and trusting that they can just pull games out whenever they want has led to far too many occasions when they do not, in fact, pull games out.
Denver has played well against the Association’s better teams. They show up more for those. Can Denver show up against the Celtics and secure a much-needed home win as the games down the stretch get tougher, or will they fold again in crunch time?
The thing to remember: The Celtics can really play. Jayson Tatum being out still leaves them with a ton of playmakers and scorers. The Nuggets might be the number one offensive team in the league (by Offensive Rating) but the Celtics are number two. Unlike Denver’s terrible 23rd in Defensive Rating, though, Boston is 7th. They compete on both sides of the ball. They ripped up the Lakers, snuffed the Suns without needing Jaylen Brown, and roll into Denver on a back-to-back but with plenty of momentum.
The Celtics shoot the third-most threes in the NBA, and failing to defend the three point line is how Denver lost to the hospital squad for the Golden State Warriors. Boston doesn’t turn the ball over and doesn’t beat themselves, but they do get into some one-on-one situations. Can Denver exploit that, or will their on-ball defense get shredded? This is a potential Finals matchup if Denver can get its act together and stay healthy enough to make that happen, so it would be nice if they take it as seriously as the Celtics probably will.
The thing to bet: Don’t ask me, bet your feelings. I just work here.
