Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets go the distance in the Mile High City
Anyone watching the Boston Celtics take on the Denver Nuggets on Monday night was in for one heck of a ride. I wouldn’t blame those who saw a double-digit lead for Boston at halftime and changed the channel. The game was trending in the wrong direction for the Nuggets, but they nearly fought their way from down 20 to steal a win away from the Celtics.
The Celts have struggled to close tight games over the last two weeks. With three losses decided by four points or less over that span, when the Nuggets came within striking distance it was all to easy to envision Boston losing their cool and surrendering another close matchup. However, Kyrie Irving had other plans.
Although Denver came within inches of piling on another heartbreaking loss to the Celtics’ recent string of lackluster finishes, Irving emerged as Beantown’s savior with one of his signature crunch time takeovers. Irving scored 10 of his total 27 points in the final quarter, and some of his late game heroics rubbed off on Jaylen Brown who nailed a clutch go-ahead triple with 34 seconds left in regulation.
Despite a decent look from Will Barton that barely missed the rim as time expired, Boston hung on for the victory as the Celtics squeaked by Denver 111-110. It was just the second win for the Celtics in seven games, and despite blowing a big lead, gave proof they can finish the job in close contests.
They shouldn’t be proud of their performance, but Boston needed this win to get back on track. While Denver doesn’t stack up to contenders like the Warriors or Rockets, they’re certainly worthy competition who’ll make you work for your win. It’s just one game, but maybe the Celts can use this momentum to go streaking like they did to open their season.
We know Boston’s talented, they just need to remind the rest of the NBA that the Eastern Conference has a team of their own to be afraid of. With the Cavs playing as terribly as they are at the moment, don’t sleep on the Celtics advancing all the way to the NBA Finals in the 2018 playoffs.
