The Boston Celtics wrapped up their extreme four-game highway journey by dealing with the one group they didn’t defeat final season: the Denver Nuggets.
Denver took the ground with out three-time MVP Nikola Jokic (sickness) whereas Boston was with out Derrick White (sickness). That also didn’t cease the Celtics and Nuggets from present process a aggressive battle that featured a resurgence from Kristaps Porzingis and Russell Westbrook amid what may very well be this 12 months’s NBA Finals.
The Celtics return dwelling with a 3-1 begin to 2025 and an improved 27-10 file after warding off the Nuggets in Denver.
Listed here are three studs and three duds from Boston’s 118-106 victory over Denver:
STUDS
Kristaps Porzingis
Boston’s 7-footer obtained off to a powerful begin with 15 first-quarter factors to set the tone.
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Porzingis was essentially the most dominant large man in Denver, scoring 25 factors with 11 rebounds to notch his first double-double this season. The 29-year-old shot 9-for-18 from the sphere, logged two steals and prevented a DeAndre Jordan poster dunk by rejecting the two-time rebounding chief on the rim within the fourth quarter. The “Unicorn” stumped “Lob Metropolis” from rising from the ashes, and gave the Nuggets issues all through the night time.
Russell Westbrook
No one was chanting “Westbrick” from Boston’s bench.
Westbrook scored a team-high 26 factors for the Nuggets, most impressively by flattening a game-high 4 3-pointers. The nine-time All-Star confirmed flashes of his 2017 MVP self, flirting with a triple-double as Westbrook additionally logged 9 rebounds and 6 assists — making up for his game-leading eight turnovers.
Jayson Tatum
It wasn’t a reasonably capturing night time for Tatum, however the 26-year-old did the whole lot else to take care of an elite degree of effectiveness.
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Tatum scored a game-high 29 factors on 11-of-23 capturing from the sphere — going 1-of-9 from three — whereas grabbing 4 rebounds and meting out six assists. Boston’s franchise star additionally tallied two blocks and a steal, going an ideal 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
Maybe Brandon Jennings was on Tatum’s thoughts?
DUDS
Boston’s second-quarter swoon
Inconsistency value the Celtics their possibilities at defeating the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder on Sunday, and it reappeared earlier than halftime in Denver.
Boston let its guard down towards the top of the second quarter, permitting the Nuggets to go on a 29-14 run within the closing 10:quarter-hour of the body. Denver generated 16 factors from contained in the paint, which alone, almost matched all 20 factors from the Celtics within the quarter. The Nuggets additionally beat Boston at its personal recreation, flattening 4-of-8 threes because the Celtics obtained chilly and linked on solely 1-of-5 threes.
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It was paying homage to the Oklahoma Metropolis meltdown, simply not almost as expensive.
Payton Pritchard
Boston didn’t get a lot manufacturing from Pritchard’s minutes because the undersized guard was extra of a legal responsibility than something.
Pritchard didn’t have his traditional scorching 3-point contact. He completed with three factors on 1-of-4 capturing from the sphere and linked on only one 3-pointer. The 26-year-old did file three rebounds and a steal however it wasn’t sufficient to alleviate the ice-cold offensive exhibiting that held the Celtics again.
Boston 3-point capturing
The Nuggets expressed they wouldn’t underestimate the Celtics and their outdoors capturing throughout Monday’s observe, however it wasn’t all that vital.
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Boston continued its mediocre 3-point capturing stretch, getting into the competition ranked twentieth within the league in capturing from three (35.2%). That didn’t enhance. As a substitute, the Celtics dipped even decrease, going 11-for-34 (32.4%) from 3-point territory, leaving a problem unaddressed because the reigning champs return dwelling on Friday night time.