The Denver Nuggets couldn’t find their rhythm early but they competed for all four quarters and wound up winning going away, downing the Boston Celtics 103-84. Jamal Murray played just 8 minutes before leaving due to illness, and Denver could not make shots from any area of the floor for more than two quarters, but some of the best defensive effort of the season kept the game close until Denver could put its stamp on the game at the end of the third quarter and into the fourth with a 15-0 run that broke the game open.
Nikola Jokic had 30 points on 28 shots as the focal point for all of Boston’s defenders, along with 12 rebounds and 6 assists. Bruce Brown was just 1-for-8 from the field but his defense on Celtics star Jaylen Brown was inspired. Tim Hardaway and Jonas Valanciunas combined for 25 points off the bench along with 13 points from two-way guard KJ Simpson in what was truly a team win. The Celtics got 23 points from Jaylen Brown on 21 shots, along with 20 points from Derrick White, but Denver’s bench outscored Boston’s 42-17 to create the breakaway win. Denver has to go back on the road and keep ironing out the kinks in their approach, but for tonight at least the team-wide effort showed what the Nuggets can do even if everything isn’t going right for them.
Game Flow
Jamal Murray started the scoring with a baseline dunk off a Jokic pass, answered by a Keita-Bates Diop jumper for the Celtics. Jokic nearly fumbled the ball out of bounds but turned around at the buzzer for a fallaway three, but Baylor Scheierman answered with one and Jaylen Brown had a traditional three point play of his own. Cam Johnson hit a three, and Neemias Queta made a paint hook that Jokic answered with his own paint bucket. The Celtics had three straight turnovers but the Nuggets couldn’t capitalize, and Jaylen Brown made a layup for Boston after a Jokic miss. Julian Strawther made a Jokic-assisted three to make it 13-12 Denver early. Jaylen Brown kept attacking the rack for Boston while Denver missed several threes until Christian Braun finally made his third attempt. Payton Pritchard answered with one of his own, Jokic hit a transition layup but missed a couple more threes, Jaylen Brown hit a three, Queta finished an oop at the buzzer, and after a low-scoring first Boston led 24-21.
Denver opened the second quarter the way they played the first: missing shots. Denver missed its first three shots, The Celtics hit two and opened an 8 point lead. Tim Hardaway Jr. finished a traditional three-point play to start the climb back. Jonas Valanciunas hit a three but the Celtics kept attacking the rack. Hardaway made one free throw, Derrick White made a three, but Spencer Jones answered with his own three. The Nuggets hustled up a bunch of rebounds of their own misses but couldn’t buy a shot until Cam Johnson’s three cut the deficit to 36-34. Valanciunas made a baby hook, White hit another three, and Bruce Brown’s forced turnover led to a Jokic layup finish. Bruce Brown missed a transition finish, then got fouled on his second time down for free throws. Jokic then missed a pair of free throws and Bruce missed another wide open three. Denver hustle was good but they couldn’t buy buckets – but a Zeke block helped Boston struggle in that regard too. Denver missed a bunch of free throws and Jaylen Brown hit a stepback, while Zeke Nnaji bricked another three for Denver. Cam Johnson tied it with a three, who then had a near steal and THJ had a nice breakaway dunk. Denver had 29 first-half attempts from three to break its record from almost 30 years ago but only made 8 and thanks to a Derrick White three Denver trailed Boston 48-47 at the half.
Jokic missed a three to open the second half as the Celtics continued to take away the paint. Jaylen Brown got free throws, Jokic hit a three the next time down, Cam missed his while Scheierman made one for Boston, and Bruce stepped out of bounds. Denver’s offense was out of sync without Jamal Murray, who did not return from illness, as Jokic missed another three and the Nuggets offense stayed stagnant and perimeter-oriented. The Celtics got in the bonus around the 8 minute mark as the refs were more whistle-happy in the third quarter, but Christian Braun made a three and Joker got fouled but missed the free throw. Denver forced a turnover and Jokic hit a jumper despite his poor shooting night to give Denver the lead at 57-56. Jaylen Brown answered with his own jumper, Jokic missed another 3 to be 2-for-10 from behind the arc so far, and Julian Strawther had a great finish off the glass. Jokic missed a three, Boston made one, and Strawther missed one of his own as Denver stayed mired in the 20’s for three-point percentage. Bruce Brown had a terrible turnover then immediately a great steal, and Jokic got back to the line. He then hit a straight-away three to put Denver up 64-61. Boston hit a couple buckets to retake the lead but Jokic then fed THJ for the dunk. Hardaway and Cam each had great finishes right after to force a timeout. Spencer Jones had a finish as Denver pushed the pace, Jokic buried a three, and KJ Simpson’s steal and dunk for Denver punctuated a terrific close to the quarter and put Denver up 77-67.
Big Val grabbed a big rebound to open the fourth off a Pritchard miss, but got fouled at the other end and it wasn’t called. So he grabbed another defensive board and got the bucket the next time. Denver’s guards forced misses on one end and Val got buckets on the other as Denver extended its run from the end of the third to a 15-0 sprint. Scheierman bounced in a three to end the run, Jonas missed a shot, but Denver’s defense kept the pressure on and a THJ three followed by Spencer Jones’s free throws put Denver up 15 at 85-70. Strawther hit a floater, Jonas had a great follow fininsh, and his effort on both sides kept the energy where it needed to be for Denver. Jokic went inside for a finish of his own miss, and Julian hit a floater in the paint of a Jokic pick-and-roll. Bruce Brown hit the dagger dunk at the three minute mark and the starters filtered out. DaRon Holmes hit a jumper and a three off the deep bench, Strawther buried a three, and Denver took this one 103-84.
Final Thoughts
Sometimes just having the will to get it done is enough. Denver couldn’t buy a shot in the first half, but they kept playing hard and didn’t let it affect their defense. Jamal Murray only played 8 minutes before leaving with sickness, but the Nuggets didn’t let it rattle them. The referees got whistle-happy to start the third quarter and Denver kept right on playing a physical defense that took the attack to the Celtics instead of sitting back. Jokic had 30 points on 28 shots. He didn’t have his touch but he kept forcing the issue against the Celtics, made them cover him. Bruce Brown was just 1-for-8 but his defense on Jaylen Brown set the tone for everyone.
It was not a pretty game, but it was a really good game. Denver fought through things that were not working and willed their way to a 15-0 run bridging the final two quarters as they wore down the Celtics and imposed their will. Denver is the number one offense in the league, but too often this year they’ve let games slip away because the offense is just so easy they think they can win with that alone. The offense was extremely bad and disjointed to start this game, but Denver didn’t lose focus – and maintaining that focus for all 4 quarters showed how they should play the rest of the regular season. Terrific win.
