Was it ever even in doubt?
Feeding off the momentum created by a gutsy bench win in Philadelphia, the Nuggets stormed into the TD Garden ready to make a statement that the West isn’t going to leave them behind. And make a statement they did.
This year’s Nuggets team is deep, talented, and hungry—even without the best 1-2 punch at center in the league, which includes the rightful MVP. Boston came in having won 8 of 9 and riding MVP-level play from Jaylen Brown, including a recent 50-spot. But his 33/7/4 wouldn’t be enough to will a less talented, less-driven, less-serious home team to the win.
Here’s how it went down.
1st Quarter
Jamal set the tone early, scoring the Nuggets first five. Watson followed with two triples of his own, giving the Nuggets an early 11-6 lead. Brown, Hauser and White put together a mini-run to tie the game, but Holmes responded with a corner three to secure the lead. After Spencer Jones hit a pair, the Nuggets had a 19-14 lead with under 6:00 left.
Jaylen Brown responded by scoring his 13th point to tie the game and give life to the Boston crowd. Garza piled on a couple of buckets, but PWat’s third three followed by a Bruce Brown runner and THJ three reclaimed the lead in a back-and-forth opening quarter. After an AG jumper and White trey and dunk, Boston led 35-31 at the buzzer with both teams shooting better than 50% from the field.
2nd Quarter
Boston wrestled controlled to start the 2nd quarter. White and Gordon traded threes, but after a Simons floater, Walsh FT, and forcing a 24-second violation on Bruce, the Celtics grew their lead to 7, the largest in the game. But the second unit quickly clawed back beginning with a Brown layup, Zeke FT, and Hardaway triple to close the gap to 41-40. AG then forced Brown into a bad turnover and converted on a drive to give the Nuggets the lead.
The game stayed tight through the rest of the quarter. PWat continued his hot shooting into the second half of the quarter, hitting a pair to defend the lead (5/5). After a jump ball, he hit his 4th three on 6 attempts. The Celtics responded, though, with a three of their own and two buckets by Brown, prompting Adelman to call a timeout with 3:20 to go. THJ missed a three out of the break, but AG and Murray got the Nuggets back to within 1. AG bothered another Brown shot, leading to a Murray lay-in and the 17th lead change of the game. CB missed an easy layup with under a minute left, clearly lacking his usual spring. He gobbled up an offensive rebound after a Pritchard pullup, giving Murray an open three and his 10th point at the half.
The teams went to halftime tied 58-58.
3rd Quarter
The see-saw scoring continued to start the second half with neither team establishing momentum. Christian upped his activity, scoring his first two on a drive and making a nice strip in the lane, protecting a Nuggets one-point lead. But after a 4-minute scoring drought, Boston scraped together a 65-63 lead with under 7 minutes left.
(Sidenote: Doris Burke is a legend. Haters get lost.)
The Nuggets’ scoring drought continued as THJ and AG missed a pair of threes and Watson was called for an offensive foul on a borderline call. JB’s lay-in gave the Celtics a 9-point lead and led to a Nuggets timeout. On cue, though, Murray buried a three followed by Hardaway trey. Gordon’s jab-step three brought the Nuggets to within two with 2:36 remaining. Once Murray made a pair from the line and PWat converted on a layup in transition, the Nuggets regained the lead near the end of the quarter. Then Zeke Nnaji(!) matched a Simons three at the end of the quarter, but Anfernee hit a second in a row to give the Celtics a three-point lead into the 4th.
4th Quarter
The tempo and intensity amped up as the pivotal 4th quarter began. Hardaway hit and missed a three, and Pickett topped a Simons’ jumper with another trey. He then hit a pick-and-roll floater, but White responded with twirling floater as the lead continued to bounce back-and-forth. After a Simons three and block on Pickett, he airballed a three, leading to Mal finding Zeke in the paint for an and-1 (12th assist), which he converted. After a Murray fadeaway and corner three for a visibly excited Braun, the Nuggets built a 95-90 lead with 5:25 to go. Watson’s layup in transition after a Nnaji block then prompted a Celtics timeout.
The Nuggets continued to press to close out the game. Zeke hit a pair after getting hacked in the lane again, followed by a Pickett jumper, Zeke block, and Watson corner three that ballooned the lead to 106-93, which also gave Murray his 17th assist that topped his career high set a few days ago. Zeke continued to do yeoman’s work down low, going up strong and getting his own rebound before being fouled again (1/2 from the line).
Boston mounted a comeback with 2:00 left. Brown hit a three, but Murray matched it with his own triple. JB then turned it over for the 6th time, all but securing the win as the Celtics subbed in their reserves. Mal got tied up and lost the jump ball, though, leading to Boston getting to the line (1/2). PWat matched with one of two at the line followed by another two, giving the Nuggets an nearly insurmountable 112-103 lead with less than 30 seconds.
Or was it? Peyton hit another two FTs, giving him 30 points for the game before missing a couple and then fouling Pritchard on a three (3/3), which brought the Celtics to within three. Murray secured a dicey inbound pass and was immediately fouled. He hit the first, missed the second, but secured his own rebound and chucked a shot to seal the improbable win on the road against a surging Boston Celtics team.
FINAL SCORE: Nuggets 114, Celtics 110
GAME NOTES:
- Jamal finished with a Jokic-like 22/8/17 (a new career-high in assists)
- PWat has been a gamechanger on both ends
- The Nuggets finish their longest road trip of the season with a record of 3-4, a triumph given the setbacks
