5 takeaways as Jaylen Brown leads Celtics over Nikola Jokic, Nuggets

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The Boston Celtics again came over the 500 on Tuesday, beating the Denver Nuggets 112-99.

Five takeaways as the Celtics overcome a monstrous performance from Nikola Jokic.

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

Jaylen Brown scored three points (5 for 10 overall). Jayson Tatum started slowly, but he let it heat up (21 points, 8-for-8 from the free-throw line). The attack moved the ball around (26 total submitted, eight piece for Tatum and Payton Pritchard). The defense was more committed. The bench helped. After a truly abysmal performance against the Wizards, the Celtics once again looked like a full team.

This is not to say that everything is right. The Nuggets lacked many key players, the Celtics committed 20 turnovers, and talented greats still give Boston passes.

But Brad Stevens often 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 bunch. Losing feels bad, regardless of the circumstances that may help explain it away. But winning is the other side of the coin: whoever you face, and whatever their circumstances, a win just feels good.

“We only lost two bad ones, so I think it was clear we needed a win tonight,” Brown said after the game. “And we had to come out with good energy. And I think we mostly did. I am therefore grateful that we achieved the victory. ”

The Celtics have nothing for Nikola Jokic. Is there anyone?

Jokic put together a sublime performance for a very short-handed Nuggets team, putting up 43 points on 23 shots. The Celtics could do absolutely nothing to stop him – Tristan Thompson was too short, Robert Williams was a little too creepy, and no one else could handle a soft hand like the Nuggets’ asterisk.

“I thought both of those guys gave everything they had on Jokic,” Brad Stevens said. “Jokic is a burden, and of course with all the fakes and with his ability to make mistakes, and his ability to score the ball, and of course his incredible passing ability, he’s a tough, tough cover.”

To Stevens’ point, Jokic is an MVP candidate because other teams have nothing for him either. He gets where he wants to be and makes shots he knows he can make. When teams take away the shots, Jokic finds his teammates (five assistants Tuesday to replenish his points).

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

Kemba Walker put together great games.

After being one of the only players to perform well against Washington, Walker followed that up with a quiet but effective 17 points on 5-for-13 shooting. He started a nice two-man game with Tristan Thompson early and finished 3-for-8 from deep.

The Nuggets are uniquely set up to give Walker a bit of confidence – his peer-to-peer was Facundo Campazzo, who is just 5 feet 10. But Walker seems to be regaining some rhythm, and he played 31 minutes on Tuesday. The only visible pain he looked at was when he touched a Jamal Murray screen and suffered like a soft sting. Otherwise, the Celtics could be encouraged by Walker for the second consecutive game.

Aaron Nesmith got a lot of runs and put together good minutes.

Nesmith’s lack of playing time has caused a great deal of consternation among Celtics fans over the past two weeks, but he played extended minutes against Washington and was also the first player off the bench against the Nuggets.

Nesmith looked solid on Tuesday. He scored nine points and made a few three-pointers, including one that curled up from a screen that was very reminiscent of his playing style in college. Nesmith did not look ready for NBA action in his first few appearances. If he can work a constant offense as the season goes on, his floor spacing and gravity will be a big help.

“He’s obviously getting more comfortable with the speed of the game on offense,” Stevens said. ‘I think it was probably the biggest transition for him, and he handled it well. To his credit, he just kept working. If a man gets the opportunity, you really want to see him succeed, and those are two good games in a row. I thought he was one of our highlights in Washington, one of the few. And of course there is a lot to build from that with what he did. so. I would say he has a good two-game series, and we’ll see. ”

If the bank is good, Boston is good.

The Celtics have shortened their bench to just four: Robert Williams, Payton Pritchard, Javonte Green and Nesmith. That unit was effective – 30 points combined on 11-to-17 shooting, including 4-for-8 from depth. They did not make many mistakes (four turnover) and kept the fort for Boston’s stars.

Of course, this will not always be the case. Boston’s bank is very young and was very contradictory. But again, the takeaways for the Celtics are that if their second unit can score and contribute, they are a much tougher team to deal with.

“I feel like the bank brought a lot of energy, but I feel like it was just positive vibes,” Rob Williams said. “Something we talked about.”