Celtics at Nuggets
The Boston Celtics are putting pressure on the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers and look to follow up a stellar victory with another win when they visit the Denver Nuggets on Friday. Boston recorded an impressive 99-86 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday and stands 2-2 on a five-game trip that ends in Denver.
Star point guard Isaiah Thomas scored 25 points and Boston held Golden State to a season-low 86 points in the double-digit victory. "It's hard to win, it's hard to win against good teams, it's hard to win on the road," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said afterward. "The most encouraging thing for me is not the win, it's the poise that we played with. You have to play that way, especially in this environment against that team." Denver hopes to see rising center Nikola Jokic (illness) return from a two-game absence and get forward Danilo Gallinari (vertigo) back after he sat out Wednesday's 123-113 home loss to the Washington Wizards. "We've been down people all year and we've beaten teams short-handed so that's not an excuse at all," shooting guard Gary Harris said after scoring a career-best 26 points in the setback. "It definitely hurt not having them but we also have to go out there and compete and try to get a win."
TV: 9 p.m. ET, CSN New England (Boston), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE CELTICS (41-24): Boston allowed an average of 112.5 points while losing its previous two games before putting forth a terrific defensive effort - including holding Golden State to 12 final-quarter points. "You keep those guys under 100 points, you have a great chance of winning the game," forward Jae Crowder told reporters. "All five (starters) were engaged. We had a hell of a game plan." The Celtics held the Warriors to 6-of-30 from 3-point range and now look to slow a Denver team that scored 100 or more points in 12 of the past 14 games.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (29-35): Denver is a different team when Jokic is on the floor and it badly missed the 22-year-old's production against the Wizards. Jokic has registered four consecutive double-doubles - he has two triple-doubles during the stretch - while Gallinari was also hot with a 21.3 average over his previous six games. Forward Wilson Chandler is picking up the slack by averaging 28.5 points on 23-of-39 shooting over the past two games, including a career-high 36 points in Monday's victory over the Sacramento Kings.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nuggets PG Emmanuel Mudiay matched his career high of 30 points in a 123-107 victory over the Celtics on Nov. 6.
2. Boston backup C Kelly Olynyk scored 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting against the Warriors after averaging 3.7 points on 5-of-20 shooting over the previous three games.
3. Denver PF Kenneth Faried (back) missed six straight games.