The Celtics stalled out within the last sport of their Western Convention highway journey, shedding to the Denver Nuggets 103-84 on Wednesday night time.
The ugly loss featured Boston’s worst capturing efficiency of the season, as Joe Mazzulla’s membership transformed simply 34.9% of its field-goal makes an attempt and 27.9% of its 3-pointers. It was the primary time a Celtics workforce had shot worse than 35% since December 2022.
Jaylen Brown, who returned after sitting out Tuesday’s win in Phoenix with a knee contusion, led the Celtics with 23 factors, 11 rebounds and three blocks, however he went simply 7-for-21 and 1-for-6 from deep. Derrick White scored 18 factors within the second quarter however simply two over the opposite three. He and Brown mixed for seven of the Celtics’ 13 turnovers within the loss.
Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic additionally was inefficient as a shooter (11-for-28; 4-for-13 from three) however completed with 30 factors, 12 rebounds and 6 assists.
The Nuggets have been lacking injured starters Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson and performed many of the night time with out level guard Jamal Murray, who exited with an sickness through the first quarter and didn’t return. They broke the night time open with a 15-0 run within the late third and early fourth quarters.
Boston, which cruised by way of the primary three video games of its West Coast swing, will return dwelling Friday night time to host the Brooklyn Nets. They’ll play 4 of their subsequent 5 video games at TD Backyard.
The Celtics held Jokic to 4-of-11 capturing within the first quarter — with one in all his makes approaching a tip-your-cap one-footed 3-pointer from the nook — however gifted Denver a handful of additional possessions by way of turnovers and offensive rebounds. Nonetheless, Boston led 24-21 after one, with Brown offering 12 of these factors regardless of what he seemingly considered as a number of uncalled fouls.
Neemias Queta made all three of his discipline objectives within the opening quarter, together with a pleasant turnaround hook shot over Jokic and a last-second alley-oop from Pritchard, whose penchant for buzzer-beaters probably drew Denver’s consideration away from the lurking large man. Queta additionally shared the courtroom with Nikola Vucevic for a number of stretches — the primary time head coach Joe Mazzulla had deployed his prime two facilities collectively since Vucevic’s arrival in early February.
A 7-0 run gave Boston an eight-point lead early within the second. However Denver erased that in an unsightly stretch that featured a few ill-advised Jordan Walsh capturing fouls and 7 Nuggets offensive boards, all in a span of lower than 4 minutes.
The Celtics additionally received subsequent to nothing from their usually productive bench within the first half. Their reserves totaled three factors (by Pritchard) over the primary 24 minutes, with Vucevic, Hugo Gonzalez and Ron Harper Jr. going a mixed 0-for-9 from past the arc.
And but, Boston entered halftime with a 48-47 lead, thanks largely to a terrific second quarter by White. The veteran guard scored 18 of his workforce’s 24 factors within the interval, together with 4 3-pointers.
The sport remained tight for a lot of the third quarter, which featured 9 lead modifications and two ties. However the Celtics shot simply 28% from the sphere within the quarter — with Vucevic, particularly, persevering with to scuffle — and the Nuggets ultimately discovered a groove offensively.
Veteran reserve Tim Hardaway Jr. spun previous White for a go-ahead layup, then fed a reducing Cameron Johnson for 2 on the following possession. These sparked an 11-0 Denver run to shut the quarter, throughout which Boston missed two layups and was outpaced in transition.
Jokic, who scored 15 factors within the third quarter, subbed out to begin the fourth, giving the Celtics an opportunity to capitalize in opposition to a Nuggets workforce whose effectivity plummets with out its greatest participant on the ground. However they promptly surrendered back-to-back baskets to Jokic’s backup, Jonas Valanciunas, that put Denver up 81-67.
The Nuggets led by double digits the remainder of the best way, and Mazzulla pulled his starters with just below six minutes remaining, sending in deep reserves Luka Garza and Dalano Banton to shut the sport.
