Down two starters, Celtics takes care of Nuggets 110-103

After a disappointing loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, the Boston Celtics (43-18) bounced back against the Denver Nuggets. Still without Jrue Holiday (right hand mallet finger) and Kristaps Porzingis (illness), the Celtics rebounded with a quality win.

Boston got up to a double digit lead early, but it had the same feeling as it did against the Cavs where the Celtics couldn’t put the game to bed and allowed Denver to stay in the game. The Nuggets got the game to within four late in the game, but it was Derrick White and Al Horford coming up big in the clutch to seal the deal for Boston.

The Celtics started the game well on offense, getting a 10-6 lead in the first three minutes of the game thanks to a couple of threes from Jaylen Brown and Derrick White and a couple of baskets from Al Horford.

Denver relied on Jokic early who had seven of his team’s first 10 points.

The offenses for both teams slowed down midway through the quarter as Boston had a 15-13 lead with 4:50 left in the quarter.

Payton Pritchard got the crowd into the game drilling his first three of the game, something he needed after a six point performance against the Cavs on Friday. Then on the next possession, Jaylen Brown bullied Jamal Murray in the post for the layup which forced a timeout by Michael Malone.

Pritchard hit his second three with a minute left in the first quarter to give Boston its biggest lead of the first quarter (13) 30-17.

Boston did a great job on Jamal Murray defensively holding him to zero points in the quarter while drawing two fouls against him.

The Celtics took a 12 point lead (32-20) into the second quarter with Jaylen Brown leading the way with 12 points.

The biggest difference in the start to the game between the two teams was the Celtics started 8-of-15 from three, while Denver was 4-of-15.

With Jokic out to start the second half, the Celtics got their lead up to 17, 44-17. Pritchard continued to have a hot hand in the second quarter.

Al Horford, while having to guard Jokic, started hot offensively scoring 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting to give Boston a 51-33 lead midway through the second quarter.

Jamal Murray’s first points came with 3:41 left in the first half.

Boston’s defense was superb in the first half with them being aggressive on every pick-and-roll as CelticsBlog’s Adam Taylor pointed out.

However, Denver did go on a 9-0 run with under a minute left to cut the lead to 11 48-59. Christian Braun hurt Boston scoring 11 of his 16 first half points in the second quarter.

Luke Kornet ended the run with a reverse layup to go into half leading 61-48.

Boston connected on 10-of-21 (48%) first-half threes while Denver shot 22% from deep (4-of-18).

The Celtics came out of the gates on fire going on a 7-0 run to take a 20-point lead, forcing the Nuggets to call a timeout.

After the timeout, Denver went on an 11-2 run in two minutes to make it 70-59 with 8:30 left. Derrick White and Russell Westbrook traded threes as both offensives started to heat up.

Jayson Tatum had a tough first five minutes of the second half with an offensive foul and an unnecessary turnover. Despite four turnovers midway through the third, Tatum was making up for it on the glass grabbing nine boards while providing seven assists to go with nine points.

Whether it’s Tatum or Brown, the Celtics consistently attacked Jamal Murray as he wasn’t big enough or strong enough to guard them.

Every time the C’s looked like they were going to blow the game open, the Nuggets made a run themselves and kept the game within reach.

After a three from Denver, the Nuggets cut it to nine before a floater by Murray made it an 8-0 run and a seven-point game 82-75.

Then with 17.2 seconds left, Murry drained a midrange jumper to cut it to five, the closest it’s been since the first half.

Torrey Craig was fouled right before the end of the third quarter and he made one free throw to make it 83-77 going into the fourth quarter.

The Celtics had six turnovers in the third quarter compared to five first-half turnovers which is what helped Denver get back into the game. Queta provided some instant energy and a layup by Pritchard got the lead back to 10 (94-84) with 7:41 left in the fourth.

Queta has shown time and time again when he’s given the chance, he can provide a spark. He may not be the most reliable defender, but what he brings offensively he definitely earned more minutes moving forward.

Jokic drilled a straightaway three to get the game to within four 95-91 with 5:54 left. But Derrick White found Luke Kornet on an alley-oop to make it an eight-point game shortly after with four minutes left.

White then responded from a Braun three with a three of his own before Murray answered with a three of his own to make it a five-point game 102-97.

Murray then made it a three-point game with 1:15 left 102-99. The bucket was Murray’s 20th of the second half.

With 53.7 left White, like he’s done all season, made a clutch floater to get it back to a two-possession game. Then off of a turnover Jaylen Brown found a surging Horford who laid it in to seal the victory, 106-99 with just 33.4 seconds left.

Then it was Tatum and Horford closing the game out at the free throw line to seal win No. 43.