This game is summed up in this one sequence from the fourth quarter, a no-doubt Play-of-the-Year nominee where the Celtics showed all-out hustle and the Nuggets stood there watching:
The Celtics rebounded from their poor performance in Utah to beat the Nuggets, 121-101. They did it by “wanting it more,” outworking the hosts nearly from wire to wire. Nuggets coach Mike Malone couldn’t call enough timeouts to stop the Celtics or, except for a brief third-quarter comeback, to inspire his team to play harder.
Isaiah Thomas led the way with 22 points and 12 assists, while Avery Bradley – fighting off a bruised knee from the Jazz game – added 20 points. Evan Turner had an all-around impact with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Jared Sullinger had a strong game under the basket with 16 points, 11 boards and 5 assists. Big man Nikola Jokic had 23 points and 13 rebounds for Denver, while Emmanuel Mudiay chipped in 18 points.
Denver’s first possession was nearly a 24-second violation, until Mudiay hit a desperation three from 30 feet. Fortunately, it wasn’t a bad omen. The Celts recovered quickly with an early 20-4 run that established a 24-11 lead after eight minutes. Boston was comfortably ahead at the end of the quarter, 35-17, as they shot 50% and made for treys. Meanwhile, the Nuggets shot just 38.9% from the field and committed six turnovers.
In the second, Boston continued to be more aggressive than Denver, getting seemingly every 50-50 ball. The lead peaked at 51-25, then the Nuggets woke up. They scored 10 straight before a three and long two by Avery stopped the bleeding. But Denver continued their push, got to the line often (12 of 12 in the period), and at intermission they were back within arm’s reach at 64-49.
If the Celts thought they had control, they were wrong. The Nuggets opened the third with a 13-3 run to get within 67-62. The Cs had built the lead back to 10 when a key sequence occurred: IT was called for a foul, got upset, and took it out on the Nuggets by attacking the basket for two straight hoops – and he screamed to let everyone know about it. The quarter ended with a Crowder drive and-one, followed by a Will Barton last-second three, but Boston still led at the buzzer, 91-78.
The fourth quarter was helter-skelter, with the refs injecting themselves into the game with strange calls and even non-calls. Smart especially was frustrated by the officials, and drew a technical that was admittedly amusing.
Marcus Smart switching from arms-in-the-air complaining about the no-call to pointing to Jerebko to thank him for the assist was hilarious.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) February 22, 2016
But the amazing hustle play with 10 minutes left was the back-breaker for Denver. Boston pulled away from there, closing with a 20-10 run to restore the lead to 20-plus.
The Green:
- IT had 10 assists at halftime.
- Boston’s bench outscored their counterparts, 44-29.
- Marcus Smart had 10 points, countless dives onto the floor, and was a team-high +19 for the game.
- Celts forced 24 turnovers and converted those to 29 points.
The Gross:
- Denver was 27 of 34 from the free throw line, while Boston was just 17 of 20.
- Kenneth Faried started for the Nuggets, played 13 minutes, and had zero points, zero shots, and just one rebound.
The Greenlights:
Another angle of the hustle play
Amazing how IT makes these.
ET corkscrew
Evan Turner shows off his handles and his dance moves en route to the hoop: pic.twitter.com/VEtLW6LRm4
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 21, 2016
The Grid:
- Shooting: Celtics 48.5% (47-97), Nuggets, 46.6% (34-73)
- Points in the Paint: Celtics 60 (30/45), Nuggets 44 (22/38)
- 2nd Chance Points: Celtics 14 (7/16), Nuggets 7 (2/5)
- Fast Break Points: Celtics 24 (10/16), Nuggets 17 (5/7)
- Every Nuggets player was a minus on the +/- stats.
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