5 topics like Jaylen Brown leads the Celtics over Nikola Jokic, Nuggets

COMMENT

The Boston Celtics recovered more than 0.500 on Tuesday, eliminating the Denver Nuggets 112-99.

Five lessons as the Celtics overcame a monstrous performance by Nikola Jokic.

The Celtics looked better in almost every facet of the game.

Jaylen Brown had 3 points (5 out of 10 overall). Jayson Tatum started out slow, but warmed up late (21 points, 8 out of 8 from the free throw line). The attack moved the ball (26 assists in total, eight each for Tatum and Payton Pritchard). The defense was more connected. The bank helped. After a really bad performance against the Wizards, the Celtics looked like a complete team again.

This does not mean that everything is fixed. The Nuggets were losing a lot of important players, the Celtics made 20 turns and great talents still attack Boston.

But Brad Stevens always talks about how hard it is to win an NBA game, no matter who the opponent is, and the Celtics looked like a much happier group. Losing is bad, no matter the circumstances that may help explain it. But winning is the flip side: whoever you’re up against, and whatever the circumstances, a win feels good.

“We just lost two bad games, so I think it was obvious that we needed a win tonight,” said Brown after the game. “And we needed to leave with good energy. And I think most of the time, yes. For that, I am grateful that we won. “

The Celtics have nothing for Nikola Jokic. Somebody?

Jokic had a sublime performance for a Nuggets team with few players, scoring 43 points from 23 shots. The Celtics could do absolutely nothing to stop him – Tristan Thompson was very short, Robert Williams was a little nervous and no one else could handle a giant with soft hands like the center of the Nuggets’ stars.

“I thought the two guys gave everything they had at Jokic,” said Brad Stevens. “Jokic is a burden and, obviously, with all the fakes and with his ability to score fouls, and his ability to score the ball and, obviously, his incredible passing ability, he is a tough, difficult cover.”

To Stevens’ point, Jokic is a candidate for MVP because other teams also have nothing for him. He gets where he wants and makes shots that he knows he can do. When the teams take these kicks, Jokic meets his teammates (five assists on Tuesday to supplement his score).

The Celtics, especially on the perimeter, had a lot for the rest of the players available to Denver – the Nuggets were without Paul Millsap, Gary Harris, Will Barton and Monte Morris. Jokic is an almost impossible disguise.

Kemba Walker set up good consecutive games.

After being one of the only players who had a good performance against Washington, Walker followed with 17 discreet but effective points in 5-in-13 shots. He established a good two-player game early on with Tristan Thompson and finished 3 in 8 of the bottom of the well.

The Nuggets were uniquely created to give Walker some confidence – his owner was Facundo Campazzo, who is only 1.5 meters tall. But Walker appears to be catching up and played 31 minutes on Tuesday. The only visible pain he seemed to be in was when he came across a canvas by Jamal Murray and suffered what appeared to be a light stinger. Otherwise, the Celtics can be encouraged by Walker for the second game in a row.

Aaron Nesmith ran a lot and got a few good minutes.

Nesmith’s lack of playing time has caused a lot of consternation among Celtics fans in the past two weeks, but he played for long minutes against Washington and was the first player to leave the bench against the Nuggets as well.

On Tuesday, Nesmith looked solid. He scored nine points and made a pair of 3 points, including one rolling on a screen that closely resembles his college style of play. Nesmith did not seem ready for NBA action on his first appearances. If he can muster a consistent attack as the season progresses, his spacing and gravity would be of great help.

“He’s obviously becoming more comfortable with the speed of the game on the offensive side,” said Stevens. “I think it was probably the biggest transition for him, and he handled it well. Credit to him, he just kept working. When a guy has that opportunity, you really want him to succeed, and it’s two good games in a row. I thought he was one of our strengths in Washington, one of the few. And, obviously, there is a lot to build on with what he did. then. I would say he’s in a good streak of two games, and we’ll see. “

When the bank is good, Boston is good.

The Celtics shortened their bank to just four: Robert Williams, Payton Pritchard, Javonte Green and Nesmith. This unit was effective – 30 points combined in 11 to 17 shots, including 4 to 8 in depth. They didn’t make many mistakes (four spins) and held the fort to the Boston stars.

This will not always be the case, of course. The Boston bank is very young and has been very inconsistent. But, again, the conclusion for the Celtics is that if their second unit can score and contribute, they are a much more difficult team to control.

“I feel that the bank has brought a lot of energy, but I feel that everything revolved around positive vibrations,” said Rob Williams. “Something we’ve been talking about.”