The Denver Nuggets are the first team in the 2023-24 NBA season to earn a victory at TD Garden, downing the Boston Celtics on their home court 102-100 Friday night.
Buoyed by a 34 point performance from Nikola Jokic and 35 points from Jamal Murray, Denver proved why they’re the defending NBA champions as they clawed their way back from several deficits to earn the victory. Jokic, who fell one assist shy of a triple-double on the night, dedicated the performance to his former coach, and Golden State Warriors assistant, Dejan Milojevic who passed away earlier this week.
“As I mentioned to our team after the game, I couldn’t be more proud of Nikola for playing the way he played with the tragic passing of Deki,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone told reporters following his team’s win. “That’s what you do, though. That’s why I’m proud of Nikola. You just lost somebody that you love and you care about that meant a lot to you, that was a mentor and a coach to you…it was incredible to watch him play with that heavy heart and the level he played at when you consider who we were playing and you add everything else to the mix. And that’s why Nikola is the best player in the world.”
On the Boston side of things, the Celtics saw a balanced offensive performance from their starters as Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis, and Derrick White all scored at least 21 points on the night. However a cold stretch to close out the 4th quarter where the team missed 8 of their final 9 shots ultimately doomed Boston in late stages of the game. Tatum had an opportunity, but couldn’t get a potential game tying attempt to drop in the dying seconds, admitting afterwards he perhaps “rushed” the shot.
When all was said and done, the Celtics only turned the ball over twice on the night. But their ice cold shooting when it mattered most was what sunk them. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown shot a combined 15 of 43 for 35 points, as Boston shot only 42.7% from the field. Denver would outrebound the Celts 47-38 on the night, with most of the other categories being fairly evenly split between the two high flying clubs.
The Celtics, who began the season a perfect 20-0 at home, were riding a 27 game unbeaten streak in Boston dating back to last season. Their previous defeat at TD Garden was a double overtime loss to the New York Knicks all the way back in March of 2023. The club’s 20-0 run to kick off the year is the best start to a season at home in franchise history.
The Celtics are the 13th team in NBA history to start a season 20-0 at home, but will be left wondering what could have been after blowing a game in which they led nearly wire to wire. Boston (32-10) are next in action against their former coach Ime Udoka in Houston, while Denver (29-14) travels to Washington to take on the lowly Wizards Sunday at 6pm ET.
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