This season, the Celtics have risen to the top of the NBA standings, making them clear title favorites. But along the way, it’s easy to forget that this squad has yet to win anything.
On Friday night, a Nuggets team that had just won it all traveled to TD Garden, where the Celtics had won all 20 of their games this season. And in a heated, back-and-forth game with a playoff feel, Denver’s talents just shone brighter than their Boston colleagues.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray led the reigning champs to a 102-100 victory, which was clinched when Celtics star Jayson Tatum missed a 17-foot fadeaway at the buzzer.
Murray had 35 points and 8 rebounds and Jokic tallied 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists for Denver. Derrick White led the Celtics with 24 points. But All-Stars Tatum (22 points) and Jaylen Brown (13) combined to make just 15 of 43 shots. As a team, the Celtics made 14 of 44 3-pointers.
With the Nuggets leading, 101-98, Brown missed two free throws, but a Tatum dunk with 1:41 left pulled the Celtics back within 1.
Aaron Gordon airballed a wide-open 3-pointer before Tatum raced the other way and missed a layup with 18 seconds left. Gordon was fouled on the rebound and made the first free throw but missed the second, when a double lane violation was called that to a jump ball.
Kristaps Porzingis won the tip that was chased down by Tatum, and the Celtics called timeout with 13.4 seconds to play. The ensuing possession was unsettled, though, and Boston used another timeout with 4.9 seconds left. White fired the inbounds pass to Tatum in the post, but the fadeaway attempt at the buzzer was not close.
The Nuggets actively sought to exploit Jokic’s strength advantage against Porzingis in the opening quarter. Boston’s big man struggled to find an answer for Jokic’s devastating combination of force and elegant footwork, though in his defense, most others find themselves in a similar quandary.
Jokic backed down Porzingis for several easy baskets. But the stretch was not damaging, because Porzingis was spraying jump shots at the other end. Porzingis started the game 5 for 5 from the field, with three 3-pointers, helping Boston grab an early lead despite Jokic’s dominance. For the half, Porzingis had 19 points on 6 of 7 shooting.
Al Horford checked in midway through the first and held up a bit better, and the Nuggets were not helped by their 3-point shooters missing wide-open looks after Jokic found them out of double teams.
The Celtics took a 32-31 lead to the second, and aside from the fact that coach Joe Mazzulla prefers to keep opponents below 26 points in each period, they had to feel good about being ahead after Jokic played all of the first 12 minutes and mostly had his way on offense.
Boston started the second quarter with a quick 6-0 burst with Jokic on the bench, leading to a quick timeout by Denver coach Mike Malone. After that, the Nuggets were able to stay afloat until Jokic returned, thanks in large part to some sharp shooting by Murray.
The Celtics converted some second-chances in the second, with offensive rebounds leading to a Brown dunk and a White 3-pointer. With just under two minutes left there was an excellent opportunity to do more damage on the offensive glass, but they could not quite capitalize. During one trip downcourt, the Celtics missed six consecutive shots before the Nuggets finally grabbed a rebound.
Seconds later, Murray converted a layup for the Nuggets. Nevertheless, the Celtics took a 61-55 lead to halftime despite the fact that Brown and Tatum were just 2 for 12 from the 3-point line and Jokic and Murray were 16 for 22 from the field overall.
Jokic and Murray scored 12 of Denver’s first 14 second-half points, and the Nuggets took a 69-68 lead on a Jokic 3-pointer with 6:58 left.
But then White gave the Celtics’ sleepy offense a jolt. He poured in 11 points over a stretch of just 2 minutes, 40 seconds, including a pair of 3-pointers and a 3-point play. When he went to the line for that free throw, he was serenaded with loud and consistent “MVP” chants. His flurry helped the Celtics stretch their lead back to 9, but the Nuggets closed the quarter with an 8-0 burst to pull within 82-81 at the start of the fourth.
Jokic started the final period on the bench, with Tatum on the floor for the Celtics. Boston was unable to capitalize, with Denver outscoring it by 3 points over the first 5:23, until Jokic returned with his team leading, 93-91.
