Last night the Boston Celtics played the Denver Nuggets in what would be a strange night, to say the least. The Celtics entered this road game on a four game winning streak against the number 1 team in the Western Conference, but could not get the job done. Boston put up a brutal shooting performance while the Nuggets shot about 50% from everywhere on the court. Rob Williams broke the rim on a monster slam, causing a 40 minute delay in the 4th quarter. All the while the officiating for both sides was rather suspect in many ways.
With a decently available sample size to work with, it turns out that the Celtics actually perform better on less rest. The Celtics are now just 2-7 in games that come after a two day or longer rest period. They are 24-4 when having just one or less days of rest. Perhaps the Celtics just play with more heart when they are tired? The answer to this phenomenon is unclear at the moment.
Ahead of this matchup there was an unlimited hype, as both teams are currently touting a very high ranking MVP candidate, Jayson Tatum and Nikola Jokic. Tatum is new to this race, however Jokic is no stranger, having won the MVP award for the last two years straight.
As the game got underway, the Celtics came out looking flat and fatigued. The Nuggets raced into a double digit lead for the majority of the game, however the Celtics made it interesting by closing the gap to 8 points by halftime. Ultimately, the game ended in disappointment for both the Celtics and their fans, as the team struggled with their shooting, finishing the game with a 27% three point shooting percentage and 46% overall.
All five Celtics starters had a negative +/- rating for the game, with Jayson Tatum having the lowest rating, which was unusual for the star player. Tatum currently leads the entire NBA in this statistic, which made this performance unusual. Tatum will likely get dinged for this in the MVP race as he fell short vs one of his top competitors for the award.
The veteran reigning MVP Nikola Jokic put on a show for his home crowd, posting a triple-double performance with 30 points, along with 12 rebounds and 12 assists. Him and the rest of the Nuggets shot the ball extremely efficiently, which proved to be too much for the off night the Celtics had.
In a bizarre turn of events, the game was delayed for 40 minutes in the fourth quarter after Rob Williams broke the rim with a thunderous dunk. The "Timelord" took his nickname to a whole new level per Taylor Snow of the Celtics. The arena crew for the Nuggets struggled to get the rim properly balanced, eventually leading to the decision to switch it out with a fresh rim. I did not envy the two gentlemen hustling to get the job done in what turned out to be a whacky situation.
Probably the most fun part of this very long game was the high volume of Celtics fans in the building cheering on Boston. When the Celtics go on the road, this isn't out of the ordinary, however it looked and sounded as thought the arena was about 30-40% Celtics fans. Even with the off night, the Celtics poured down the MVP chants for Jayson Tatum as Nuggets fans drowned them out with their own MVP cheer for Nikola Jokic.
Overall, it was a tough night for the Celtics as they struggled with their shooting and couldn't keep up with the dominant performance from Jokic and the Nuggets. The suspect calls from the officials and the delay caused by Williams' rim-breaking dunk only added to the frustration for Boston. The team will look to bounce back in their next game against the Thunder on Tuesday night and continue fighting for their spot atop the conference standings.
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