3 takeaways from the Boston Celtics 108-102 win vs. the Denver Nuggets
Boston.com
Jayson Tatum scored 24 points and newly acquired Derrick White added 15 off the bench as Boston pushed its season-long win streak to seven games. Here are some takeaways from the game.
Takeaways from the Boston Celtics win vs. the Denver Nuggets
1. Chemistry and confidence are growing
I watched a sequence last night that led to a Robert Williams dunk that tells me that this team has bought into what Coach Udoka is selling about playing winning basketball. It was when Tatum went baseline and got into the paint with two defenders on him.
Instead of forcing up a tough shot, he passed out of it to Derrick White in the opposite corner, who quick-passed it to Jaylen Brown. Brown ball-faked two Nuggets out of position and drove the lane and finished the possession with a lob to Williams.
It was a great display of ball movement and maturity from Tatum and Brown because they are times when either of them would have forced up a shot on plays like this one. It was great to see some progress in that regard.
2. Three-point shooting issue
I understand that three-point shooting can be a streaky thing with individual players as well as the team as a whole. The Celtics shot 10-for-37 from beyond the arc last night and have struggled with this all season.
Grant Williams (2-for-3) and Derrick White (3-for-7) shot well, but the rest of the team was 5-for-27. This is just not going to hold up in the playoffs. Ball movement to get open shots is getting better, but they still need to be able to knock those shots down or get the players who can. (Nesmith was considered the best shooter in his draft class - can he get some looks?)
3. Big men dominated the glass
The Celtics had 54 rebounds last night against the Nuggets; Williams (16) and Horford (11) grabbed exactly half of those. We need games like this from those two (or three with Daniel Theis) to eliminate second-chance points from the opposition and allow the transition game to flourish. This can only help the Celtics to get easier buckets.
The Celtics will be back in action Sunday at 2:00 p.m. when they host the Atlanta Hawks in a nationally televised game on ABC.
