The Denver Nuggets lost to the Boston Celtics 118-106 in a difficult, hard-fought affair.
Nikola Jokic was a late scratch on the injury report due to an illness, obviously a massively impactful injury.
Dario Saric started in Jokic’s place and had a rough outing, but the Nuggets stuck with the game plan and made this a contest anyway. Russell Westbrook led the way with 26 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. He did have eight turnovers, but his scoring and athleticism really stood out when the Nuggets needed a burst of energy.
Jamal Murray added 19 points on 8-of-17 from the field, but he shot just 1-of-5 from three-point range. After the loss, Murray tried to assume some responsibility or the way the game unfolded.
“I just need to make shots. I just need to make shots. I put it on me. If I’m making shots and making the good looks that I’m getting, I wouldn’t even be having this conversation,” Murray declared postgame. “Like I said, I’m just frustrated. I put a lot of it on me.”
Denver of course needs Murray to be great without Jokic out there, but ultimately, they struggled because of the defensive rebounding and turnovers. The Celtics had plenty of second chance points and valuable possessions that flipped the momentum. They also forced 16 Denver turnovers that turned into 25 Celtics points. Those are the swings that Denver couldn’t afford without their best player out there.
“I thought our defense was pretty good. I thought our offense was pretty good,” Murray shared. “I just think it came down to who had more chances to put the ball in the hoop.”
Denver’s defense was mostly solid throughout the game too, holding the Celtics to 12-of-35 from three-point range. The Celtics usually shoot over 50 three-pointers per game, so this was an interesting deviation from them. Big wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown found ways to impact the game through their physicality though, and the Nuggets allowed 60 points in the paint.
Michael Porter Jr. had 15 points and 10 rebounds. His first half kept the Nuggets in the game. The Celtics paid extra attention to him in the second half though and shut the water off, making every shot he attempted a contested look.
It wasn’t all bad for the Nuggets though. Julian Strawther came off the bench and had 19 points, giving the Nuggets much needed scoring from the second unit. Peyton Watson played a whooping 34 minutes off the bench and had 14 efficient points, four blocks, and a steal. He was Denver’s best defender tonight by far, challenging Tatum and Brown consistently with his length, athleticism, and hustle.
Ultimately, it wasn’t meant to be without Jokic. Those are big shoes to fll, and the Nuggets just didn’t have enough juice to keep up with one of the best teams in the NBA.
Measuring Stick Game Aborted
Heading into this one, I wrote the following paragraph in this morning’s preview:
This matchup is a good one to measure just how far away the Nuggets are from being a true title contender. The Celtics are elite by almost every metric. The Nuggets are seventh in win percentage right now, but there’s still some distance between them in a lot of the advanced numbers. How much do those matter? Maybe a little. Maybe a lot. Maybe not at all.
Tonight, the plan changed the moment Jokic was out. When you remove a player of his caliber, it gets weird for both teams to adjust. The Nuggets fought and did a good job keeping up, but the Celtics ultimately slowed Denver down enough to gain some fourth quarter separation.
How much does this game matter in determining Denver’s championship mettle? Very little, but I do think they showed enough to me tonight that I can at least see the vision when the time comes.
Murray hit some difficult shots tonight. Westbrook carved out an important role. Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, and Julian Strawther all showed aspects of their game that will be helpful in the playoffs.
Is it enough to sway me into calling them a true title contender? Not yet. Denver’s non-Jokic centers continue to struggle. There’s also not enough perimeter depth and versatility to account for if a player in the rotation struggles.
Michael Malone’s counter to bench guys struggling has been to play the starters more. It’s hard to argue with that logic when the bench is such a weakness overall for Denver. Could the Nuggets be good enough to win in the playoffs if they had another veteran? Two veterans? Are their problems deeper than that?
That’s what the Nuggets have to figure out over the next month. Tonight was supposed to be a big step in that discovery process. Now? I’d call it a “push” for Denver.
Final Rotations
