The Denver Nuggets enter a Sunday matinee game against the Boston Celtics today with an opportunity to go 3-1 on a roadtrip against all playoff teams. That would be a pretty impressive turnaround for the Nuggets after a slow start post All-Star break.

All they have to do? Beat the defending champions.

Let’s delve into the Boston Celtics matchup once again:

Denver Nuggets @ Boston Celtics

Projected Starting Lineups

Denver: Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic

Boston: Derrick White, Sam Hauser, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Neemias Queta

Key Bench Players

Denver: Russell Westbrook, Julian Strawther, Zeke Nnaji, DeAndre Jordan

Boston: Payton Pritchard, Torrey Craig, Jordan Walsh, Luke Kornet, Not sure with Joe Mazzulla

Notable Injuries

Denver: Aaron Gordon – QUESTIONABLE, Zeke Nnaji – QUESTIONABLE, Peyton Watson – OUT, Vlatko Cancar – OUT, DaRon Holmes II – OUT

Boston: Jaylen Brown – QUESTIONABLE, Jrue Holiday – DOUBTFUL, Kristaps Porzingis – DOUBTFUL

Key for the Nuggets – Injury Concerns

Both sides of this matchup are about to get a bit uncomfortable in the face of some injury absences. For the Nuggets, Aaron Gordon and Zeke Nnaji are questionable, while Watson, Cancar, and Holmes remain out. The heights of those players are 6’8″, 6’9″, 6’7″, 6’8″, and 6’9″ respectively. Denver’s forward room is especially decimated by injuries right now, and if neither Gordon nor Nnaji play, then Denver’s going to have to get uncomfortable with some unique lineups, perhaps a variety of three guard looks with Michael Porter Jr. sliding to power forward.

For the Celtics, Jaylen Brown is questionable while Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis are doubtful. It’s possible that none of the three play, in which case, the Celtics would be extremely reliant on Jayson Tatum and Derrick White to create almost every shot. Tatum took 37 shots on Friday in a surprising loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He will likely try to find about 25 shots today, so the Nuggets have to both be ready to contest his shots and rotate out of their high pick and roll coverages.

Whichever team adapts first to their new situation will have a major advantage. Look for players like Russell Westbrook and Payton Pritchard to affect the flow.

Important Matchup – Nikola Jokic vs Boston

As much as anybody could try to argue otherwise, this game is about Nikola Jokic imposing his will on offense and avoiding trouble on defense. With Porzingis out on Friday, the Celtics started Al Horford at center to space out the Cavaliers interior. That might have worked (for a while) vs Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Jokic is a different beast and will command more attention. For today, I project the Celtics start another center (either Neemias Queta or Luke Kornet) next to Horford to try and adapt to the Nuggets.

Jokic will shine regardless. What will be of major concern is the Celtics three-point shooting against Jokic and the Nuggets. I expect the Celtics to attempt at least 50 threes vs Denver, and if they make 20 of those, that could be all she wrote for this game. Denver’s perimeter defense has to be on point, which means Jokic contesting harder on perimeter jumpers than usual and the Nuggets rotating behind him capably.

Number of the Day – 7

That’s the number of seasons in a row the NBA has avoided a repeat champion in back-to-back seasons. The Nuggets won it all in 2022-23. The Celtics followed suit in 2023-24. Neither team was particularly challenged along the way.

Will the Celtics break that seven-year streak this season? They have as good a shot as any team at a title and continue to prove their worth against the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

Nugget who should have a good game: Jamal Murray

Jamal Murray is on a roll over the last 11 weeks or so, and there’s a possibility that he doesn’t face either Jaylen Brown or Jrue Holiday defensively in today’s matchup. Derrick White is of course an impressive defender, but Murray has found success against him before. With the Nuggets needing a big performance in a big moment, they will look to Murray to give them some life. It also helps that Jokic is going to maintain so much attention from the Celtics frontcourt that Murray’s matchup should be fairly straightforward.