Celtics take down Jokic-less Nuggets 118-106 – The Denver Post

On By Littum

Their spirits were willing, but the depleted Nuggets couldn’t quite hang with the defending NBA champion Celtics on Tuesday night at Ball Arena.

Playing without center Nikola Jokic, who was scratched before the game with a non-COVID illness, Denver pushed Boston to the limit. When Christian Braun swished a 3-pointer to tie the game at 93-93, he pumped his fist and the crowd went wild.

But the Celtics drove down the stretch and made the big shots while the Nuggets ran out of runs — and maybe ran out of gas — on their home floor. Boston outscored the Nuggets 25-13 in the final 7 1/2 minutes for a 118-106 victory.

The Nuggets turned the ball over 16 times, leading to 25 Boston points.

“The turnovers and points allowed turnovers and the extra (points) they got off the glass (hurt us),” Nuggets coach Mike Malone said. “Our guys were flying around and they did a really good job, but we beat ourselves too often tonight and against the defending champs, that’s tough to overcome.”

Tuesday marked the first time this season that the 2023 champion Nuggets went toe-to-toe with the ’24 champion Celtics, who improved to 27-10.

Point guard Jamal Murray used the word “frustrated” to describe the defeat.

“It was tough because our defense was pretty good and our offense was pretty good,” said point guard Jamal Murray, who scored 19 points but was 8 of 17 shooting and just 1 for 5 on 3-pointers.

The Nuggets (20-25) had six players score in double figures, led by Russell Westbrook’s 26-point game, but it wasn’t enough to hold off high-powered Boston, which was led by Jayson Tatum’s 29-point night.

Celtics usually float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. They averaged 50.2 3-point attempts per game this season, the most in NBA history and six more than any other team in 2024-25. But they came out and pounded the Nuggets on the inside, a la Joe Frazier.

The Jokic-less Nuggets found themselves down 37-25 after the first quarter, mostly because the Celtics beat them inside and outscored the Nuggets 18-2. That pleased the many vocal Boston fans in attendance.

Early on, Denver had no answer for Boston center Kristaps Porzingis, who scored 15 points and grabbed four rebounds in the quarter. Porzingis finished the game with 25 points and 11 rebounds.

But the Nuggets, who shared the ball well and outplayed the Celtics, came roaring back and outscored the Celtics 32-20 in the second. When Peyton Watson drained a 3-pointer off an assist from Dario Saric to tie the game at 57-all, the Nuggets received a standing ovation.

Saric replaced Jokic in the starting lineup and played his first game since November 23, 2024. He also started all three games that Jokic missed in November when Jokic was out for the birth of his second child. Saric was scoreless with one rebound and four assists in 16 minutes.

Without the three-time MVP, the Nuggets had to fill a void the size of the Grand Canyon. Jokic is averaging 31.5 points, 13 rebounds and 9.7 assists while shooting a league-leading 47.3% from the 3-point line. Denver’s net rating is 25.8 points per 100 possessions better with him on the field than with him on the bench this season, and he’s already posted 14 triple-doubles.

“He didn’t feel good yesterday and it just got worse today, which is unfortunate,” Malone said during his pregame news conference when Jokic was listed as questionable. “One, we have a game tonight. And two, it’s his Christmas break. … He’s trying to fight through it, and if he can’t go, then we’re going to rely on someone else.”

Boston played without former University of Colorado star Derrick White, who is also dealing with an illness. White leads all Boston starters in games played this season, missing just his second game.

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