What We Learned From Celtics vs Nuggets

What We Learned From Celtics vs Nuggets

Just under two months ago the nuggets and Celtics squared off for the first time this season and that matchup didn’t disappoint it was a very back and forth game where both teams struggled from three ultimately coming down to the final seconds where joic and Murray put

It away to give Boston their first home loss of the season last night we got matchup number two this time in Denver and you know how they say history tends to repeat itself the Nuggets opened with a set action that starts Aaron Gordon with the ball in the pinch post as they

Set a couple cross screens for Porter Jr and Mike slips down the middle of the lane for a real easy catch and finish a little over a minute later they set up another cross screen action this time for joic out on the perimeter and as he runs through he actually draws two

Defenders away from the ball that leaves kcp open as he draws a hard close out and attacks for a wideopen midi of course they can also run yic off of screens with the ball in his hands and if nobody’s there to pick him up he’ll take advantage of that space just

Abusing Chris staps on his way to a dunk usually when he’s out on the perimeter though it’s to set up that signature Twan game here Jamal turns the corner to get to a floater and it’s the exact same thing when Reggie Jackson’s in the game

He comes off a screen and you can see how hesitant kristaps is to step away from jokic’s role leaving a Lane right to the basket the key here is that yic and the nuggets can attack in so many different ways of course he can also set

Up in the post for an isolation and as soon as a double comes he’s finding the open man to put the defense in rotation which results in another open jumper to avoid plays like that you sort of have to throw single coverage at him to which he’ll counter by getting himself a

Bucket he had seven points and five assists on 67% shooting in the first taking complete control of the game early on and after watching them operate it’s a pretty jarring difference when you watch Boston’s offense most of their approach stems from finding matchups to attack oneon-one like here Drew has

Porter on him and uses his speed advantage to attack the rim and finish this time it’s jayen brown who attacks Porter in early offense turning his back to the basket and getting to a little push shot with the left Jaylen was clearly feeling it right from the jump

And he loves to attack with speed if the defense isn’t full back and set good luck stopping him from touching the paint when the game slows down that’s when they’ll start going to more ball screen action through Jason Tatum Denver plays the first one in a hedge leaving

Christs with some space in the short roll as he turns into a jumper then next time Tatum sets up a pick and roll yic sits back in a drop so he turns the corner and works his way to the middle for a jumper of his own and on attempt

Number three no hedge no drop but rather a a soft switch leaving him with some room to pull up from extended range the bigger risk that comes with switching these actions though is it creates those mismatches they want on this one Chris staps finds himself working against

Reggie Jackson and takes him to the low post for an easy bucket then a possession later same exact thing except now a double comes so he kicks it out to an open Al Horford who just comes up short on a top of the key triple unfortunately

That was part of the story early on the Celtics shot just three of 11 from three in the first quarter and could have easily jumped out to a decent lead had one or two of those misses Fallen still both offenses cooked and it was a 28 to

27 game in the final seconds before Jamal Murray did this to give Denver a lead at the buzzer to start the second the Nuggets throughout their switch everything unit a bunch of athletic Wings just flying all over the court to make life hell for the opposing offense

One problem with this lineup though is that it lacks size which Jaylen Brown took advantage of by relentlessly attacking the paint you can see that here as he gets on the offensive glass takes it to the rim and misses only to get not one but two opportunities at a

Tippen before getting a third chance from Tilman as he uses a power dribble to get a grown man’s bucket this time you’re going to see him operating out of the mid post and without a big rim protector to turn him away that’s just way too easy then when he’s out on the

Perimeter and the Nuggets soft switch a ball screen to not give him a lane that’s when he’ll pull up for an outside Chomper Jaylen had 15 points in the second and the team’s offense was looking really good only one problem Jamal Murray was matching everything on

The other end these non- yic minutes are what I like to call the let Jamal cook offense and that’s precisely how it went down after the those two buckets he finds himself with a big switch on to him attacks on a drive and throws up a beautiful Statue of Liberty finish

Surprisingly Denver actually won these minutes and about halfway through it was time for jokic’s return finally the Celtics decided to try out some set action with Drew setting up on an open side as Tatum sets a back screen for porzingis to cut but the nuggets are

Able to shut it down then on the other end they run a play of Their Own with yic setting a flare screen for kcp and as soon as Joker recognizes that the Celtics are switching he slips back door for some easy offense down low for the most part though Boston played some

Really good defense during the stretch here’s another set action with Porter curling off a screen towards the ball and Chris staps drops to protect the nail while Horford Smothers him at the basket most of their stops pretty much all came down to Chris DS’s ability to protect the rim here he’s defending

Gordon in isolation and does a good job of forcing him Baseline into a tough angle and this time it’s yic in the post actually leaving his feet on an up fake but still getting a great contest thanks to a 7′ 6 wingspan then when the Nuggets

Switched up their approach by going to a high pick and roll Christ staps was back in a deep drop coverage and stops Jamal from getting to the paint on a drive this was the perfect opportunity for Boston to shift the momentum except they couldn’t score either of course they’re

Still trying to attack mismatches without much success though here kristaps gets ripped by Jamal and this time you’re going to see them use Tatum as a screener to hunt for the switch on to Murray before setting up to isolate jic leaves his man on the perimeter to

Load up on the nail and they force another turnover on the very next possession Tatum again finds himself with the Jamal switch this time attacking with a lot more space and with a little bump to the chest he picks up up an offensive foul the Celtics did

Have a few good plays where they turned their defense into transition offense going the other way playing with a little more Pace whenever possible helped them get some points with this one right here making it a score of 51 to 50 from here it was all Denver it

Started with the two-man game yic catches it in the middle and Jaylen makes a great read to nearly blow it up only for the big man to regain possession and turn into a floater then on the other end Boston tries a pick and pop which the Nuggets defend by putting

Two on Tatum while a third Defender comes over from the weak side to pick up the shooter they force yet another turnover which leads to some transition offense and Porter throws down a huge dunk in the half court it’s right back to the Twan game Jamal turns the corner

And Drew shoots up from the weak side to protect the nail with nobody covering a lob to Mr 50 and then when the Nuggets finally miss a shot y yic plays a little game of water polo to secure a second chance opportunity before drawing a foul Derek white tries to respond by

Attacking before the defense can set and gets rejected at the rim and with just a few seconds to go the ball finds yic for a face up isolation as they once again beat the buzzer after closing the quarter on a 10 to4 run it was 61 to 54

Heading into the break the Celtics opened up quarter number three really strong first it was one of those pick and Pops where Tatum draws two except he plays it with a lot more patience to let porzingis get some space then when he hits him there’s just no way for kcp to

Recover then on defense they do a great job of defending the Twan Game Chris Taps comes up in a high drop then when Jamal steps back for a three you have Tatum coming over to contest while everyone crashes the glass next time down it’s going to be Jaylen who sets up

The ball screen and like clockwork you’ve got two on the ball no nobody on porzingis as he hits his second three in just a minute so they go right back to it again now the Nuggets play a much softer coverage to not let christs get another good look which leaves brown

With a ton of space to operate just like that we’ve got a tie game not for long though as the Nuggets immediately responded through the form of niika yic post-ups just abusing Christ staps on that block over and over again they set Joker up on an open side of the floor

And watch him go to work with no double team you’re not going to get many stops here it is one more time slowly working his way closer and closer to the basket without seeing a second body that’s just too easy it wasn’t just yic though as a

Team they got whatever they wanted in the paint during this quarter here you’re going to see Gordon take the Unicorn one-on-one and spin into a little hook and this time it starts with some Twan game between yic and kcp Drew Drew makes an effort to dig at the nail

Leaving mpj with an opportunity to cut back door for a layup so they run it again yoka chain it off to kcp but now nobody steps over to protect the middle and he’s able to get to an elbow jumper it’s the exact same thing when it was Reggie Jackson he receives the handoff

Nobody cuts off his momentum and he drives into a floater the Nuggets were starting to build some serious separation again in large part due to how they defended Tatum they made it clear that they would send two to the ball every single time he came off a screen with some aggressive rotations

Behind the play to take away any easy passes the goal was to force Tatum into making tough decisions as a playmaker without letting him catch any rhythm as a scorer again there’s no angle to attack because he’s got two on him and when he tries to hit Chris apps you’ve

Got a third Defender jumping that lane you can see how much different it looks when he’s operating one-on-one with some space putting his head down and getting to the rim with ease but that was his only made shot in quarters 2 and three and he only

Got three attempts up in total the game plan was clear and forcing Tatum to make tough decisions resulted in him turning the ball over four times in just those 14 minutes with that said I don’t want it to seem like he didn’t make any good plays again he draws two throws an up

Fake to sell the defense before hitting christs for his third three-pointer of the quarter Denver’s defense was just in the zone though this time it’s Jaylen who draws two and looks to hit the pop but watch kcp as he makes a perfect rotation to force another turnover with

The Nuggets offense rolling the Celtics struggling to score this could have gotten out of hand very quickly they desperately needed a savior which they found in the form of Jaylen Brown they were setting him up on the elbow for isolations where he’s both a threat to

Drive and to rise up over the top for jompers here it is again he catches and quickly attacks downhill which puts the defense in rotation and leads to a highquality corner three for Sam Hower as I mentioned earlier though he’s at his best with Pace relentlessly

Attacking the rim for his 12th points of the third no matter how well he played though Denver always had an answer jokic gets a mismatch in the middle and demands a double team leaving kcp open in the corner to keep it a double digit game and that right there takes us to

The end of the quarter a 90 to 80 nuggets lead with just 12 minutes to go of course that means we’re right back to the let Jamal cook minutes and it was a mix of good and bad on the first possession he rejects some screening action and creates a wide openen path to

The cup then the next time he rejects a screen the Celtics are more prepared and do a phenomenal job of protecting the paint so to make things a little trickier you’re going to see pton Watson fake a screen to the to the right before flipping it left to give Jamal a lane as

He snakes back across the middle for one of his tough buckets it was really a one-man show though the other guys weren’t producing much offensively so on a play like this where he’s doubled and Payton Watson’s left open They Come Away empty-handed on the other side of things

A majority of Boston’s offense was flowing through Tatum as an isolationist this time it’s inside the ark and they decide to leave him in single coverage so he’s able to get to the rim for two then on the next one he sets up on the perimeter tries his hand at a step back

Three and misses but they secure a second chance the offense resets Tatum once again isolates from the perimeter but now he’s going to look to drive only for Payton Watson to fly in for a massive block you just have to credit this bench unit for their defensive versatility Tatum couldn’t get anything

Going Nai on the ball Watson coming over to protect the rim that’s good stuff however I want you to look at who Boston has on the floor they really tried to take advantage of these non yic minutes by running four of their five starters the Nuggets still have bodies to throw

At kristaps but that Talent Gap is just too much to overcome when Tatum drives and draws help he’s kicking it out to a wideopen Jaylen Brown then after a stop they get out in transition and a bucket triggers a timeout to get joic back in the game on the first play back joic

Immediately finds himself with a mismatch and patiently works his way to the paint to draw a foul and as for Boston they get possibly the best shot you could ask for with a Drew holiday Corner three only he misses and a quick grab and go leads to a run out on the

Other end where Payton Watson cuts into a driving lane and throws down a big time dunk from there both teams went cold and it’s not like they couldn’t create good shots they just weren’t dropping here you’re going to see the Nuggets run a little screening action that forces porzingis to slide down from

The corner and that’s a shot you want 10 out of 10 times it just doesn’t find the net after nearly two minutes without a score christs finally breaks the spell with an elbow jumper and then on defense the Celtics are trying out an interesting strategy what they’re doing

Is putting one of their wings on yic and switching every action while porzingis roams from the weak side corner to protect the paint this time he picks up Joker which results in a dump off to Gordon so you obviously don’t want to overh help but leaving him in single

Coverage is just way too easy I don’t really know what the goal is here with that said though this Boston team was not rolling over easy you’ve got a big time bucket plus the foul from Jaylen and transition and then a Cross Match leaves jic on Drew holiday which he uses

To his Advantage by attacking downhill a possession later it’s porzingis who has yic on him and he too is going to attack on a drive before stopping short for a pull-up jumper we’ve got a five-point game the Nuggets try to counter by going back to an open side post up for Joker

And when the Celtics double the ball finds kcp in the corner again you can’t ask for a better shot but Boston catches a break now they have a chance to make it a onep possession game and Chris daps tries a three of his own with the same

Result on a Miss from there it was pretty back and forth you’ve got yic posting up on an open side and spinning into a hook that misses only for Gordon to fly in and put it back then on the other end it’s a Tatum pick and roll

That draws to except instead of giving the ball up he forces the issue himself and drives his way into a pair of free throws a possession later Drew attacks in early offense gets cross matched with jic and steps back for a jumper cutting the lead down to three I bet you can

Guess what Denver goes to Joker on an open side working with his back to the back basket and no second Defender coming over to save their defense from the inevitable the Nuggets just couldn’t put it away though Drew once again finds himself with the yic switch steps back

For another three and now it’s a two-point game then while milking the clock Jaylen picks Jamal’s pocket leading to some fast break offense the execution here by Boston is just perfect and they end up with a wideopen corner three from their best player that’s about as good of an opportunity as

You’ll get still there’s some time left to get a stop and they desperately need it this is when yic pulls out Old Faithful spinning into a fake hook shot that’s actually a lob to Gordon with one last chance to keep the game alive it’s Derek white who attempts a three and it

Doesn’t drop after that it’s just theatric and the Nuggets end up defending their home court with a Sixpoint win real quick I want to revisit a few few moments from the closing minutes of this game though because many expect these two to meet again in the NBA finals and I think we

Learned a lot down the stretch just think about all of the pivotal swing moments for the Celtics on their first chance to make it a onep possession Game Chris staps missed a three then the shot that made it a one possession game was a Drew stepback three same thing to bring

It within two a Drew step back three with a chance to take their first lead in seemingly forever you guessed it a missed three and on the very last opportunity to keep the game alive I think you get the idea now let’s think about how the Nuggets closed the game to

Hold the lead Aaron Gordon put back yic post up bucket and a yic lob to Gordon are you sensing a theme because I know I am the Nuggets relied on the painted area for their scoring while the Celtics relied on the three-point line and it’s a stylistic difference that gives these

Two teams such a different level of variability in performance what I mean by that is the Celtics use of the three-point line with the level of talent they have gives them an offensive ceiling matched by very few teams in NBA history that’s why they’re the number

One offense and a big reason for the 48 and 14 record but it also gives them a much lower floor if they go cold at the wrong time things don’t look so good and you end up with a game like last night where they shot 11 of 38 or 29% from

Three on the other side the Nuggets shot just 19% from three a disaster but the difference is volume they only took 213s 17 less than Boston that’s why they still produced a 116 offensive rating and why as a team their floor is so high because they’re so good at controlling

The paint and don’t rely on on hot or cold shooting there’s a level of inevitability in their offense that helped them steamroll the playoffs last year so do with that information as you wish if the Celtics get hot they look unbeatable but is that ceiling enough to

Make them a title favorite over a team like Denver who’s just always good well the playoffs are rapidly approaching so only time will tell if you enjoyed this breakdown make sure to drop a like subscribe and turn my post ifications on to be first on more content if you’re

Interested in my more in-depth research make sure to check out my website and social media profiles you can find those links in the description feel free to let me know down in the comments what you thought of this matchup as always I hope you all have a great day and I’ll

Catch you guys in the next one

The Nuggets and Celtics are widely considered to be the 2 title favorites, and this last matchup taught us important things about a potential finals series.

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