Celtics Vs Nuggets: Jaylen Brown Likes Where the Celtics Are Despite 103-84 Loss
The celtics vs nuggets matchup ended in a 103-84 loss in Denver, but Jaylen Brown said he still likes where the Celtics are as a team and that the night offered lessons to carry forward.
Coach Joe Mazzulla called one timeout, then another, as the third quarter finished and the fourth began — but the breaks could not snap Boston out of a second-half funk in the 103-84 defeat. Derrick White said, "For most of the third (quarter), we just weren’t really able to get anything going, " adding that Denver converted misses into transition layups.
The Celtics shot a season-low 34. 9 percent from the field, their least efficient offensive performance of the season. Brown said the team "got a lot of great looks, " noting, "Every night is an opportunity to learn. So definitely some takeaways from tonight. They’re a good team. I thought we put ourselves in a good position. We’ve just got to convert. " He also added that Boston gave the Nuggets "a couple more extra-chance points than we would have liked on the glass. "
Boston had dominated the first three games of the road trip — beating the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns by 49 combined points — but this meeting in Denver came as the second leg of a back-to-back at the end of a long Western Conference swing, one of the more difficult stops on the schedule. With Aaron Gordon sidelined by a hamstring issue and Jamal Murray leaving the game in the first half with an illness, the Nuggets remained dangerous in the Denver altitude.
Celtics Vs Nuggets: Second-half slide sealed in Denver
Fatigue appeared to catch up with Boston late in the third quarter. Mazzulla called a timeout with 1: 27 left in the third after the Nuggets scored on three straight possessions — a dunk and two layups — and Boston trailed 70-67 when play resumed. The timeout did not halt Denver’s surge.
Jokić’s line and the momentum swing
Nikola Jokić finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds and six assists on 11-of-28 shooting; he hit a 3-pointer after the timeout to push Denver’s lead to 75-67. On the first possession out of the timeout, Nikola Vučević missed a layup and the Nuggets turned it into a fast-break score. After a Jaylen Brown turnover, K. J. Simpson followed with a dunk that put Boston behind by 10.
Timeouts, turnovers and a 15-0 burst
Boston then went scoreless for the first 1: 57 of the fourth quarter as Denver closed the gap with a 15-0 run. Mazzulla said, "It was a combination of we missed shots, a combination of a couple live-ball turnovers, and then they got out in transition. I think half of (that) run came in transition, either off some of our missed shots, our missed rim reads, or just a turnover. " The coach emptied the bench midway through the fourth quarter as the Nuggets finished the stretch.
Brown takes lessons from a 34. 9 percent night
Brown called it a "tough night shooting the ball, " saying that Denver’s physicality affected Boston and that missed offense "spilled over to defense a little bit. " The Celtics had chances to cut into the deficit in the fourth but repeatedly missed good looks. For the second straight game, only White could find a sho— unclear in the provided context.
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