Celtics at Nuggets
The Boston Celtics are still holding onto the best record in the Eastern Conference but dropped five of their last six games after suffering a narrow loss at Golden State on Saturday. The Celtics will try to come out even on a four-game road trip when they finish up by visiting the Denver Nuggets on Monday.
Boston led most of the night at the defending champion Warriors before falling just short in a 109-105 loss, and All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving likes his young teammates getting that experience. "I'm looking on the floor at a new team," Irving told reporters. "And we've got Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Semi Ojeleye, Daniel Theis, and they're just thrown into the high-level, 1-seed vs. 1-seed type of battle. It demands everything from you mentally, physically. You've gotta bring it because you're going against the champs. And being in Oracle, high-level, they go on their run, Steph's being unbelievable, the crowd's going crazy, it's a lot to consider." The Celtics are going into another tough environment Monday in Denver, where the Nuggets are 19-6 and looking to polish off a five-game homestand with a fourth win. Irving could be in for another tough matchup at point guard with Jamal Murray, who is averaging 25.3 points on the homestand.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, NBATV, NBCS Boston, Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE CELTICS (35-15): Irving was brilliant in Saturday's setback, scoring 37 points on 13-of-18 shooting while going 5-of-6 from 3-point range. "(Irving is) an amazing player," Warriors point guard Stephen Curry told reporters. "The way he saw the game tonight was pretty crazy. I feel like we were defending pretty well, he just made some tough shots, a lot of tough shots and gave his team a lot of momentum. But we try to bring the best out of each other and tonight was kind of one of those nights. Just a fun way to play. Obviously, we want to try to slow him down a little bit next time, but it was fun." Irving is averaging 32.5 points on 58 percent shooting over the last four games, including 50 percent from beyond the arc.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (26-23): Denver followed up a 130-118 win over the Knicks with a 91-89 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, and being able to win a high-scoring game and a grind-it-out game is a good sign for the team. "To be a good team in the NBA, you have to be able to win (playing) different styles," coach Michael Malone told reporters. "... It shows that late in the game, you have to be able execute on offense. And at the end of the game, you gotta be able to get timely stops." The Nuggets had no trouble executing on Saturday while running the offense through center Nikola Jokic, who collected 16 rebounds, 11 assists and earned the triple-double when his go-ahead jumper down the stretch gave him 11 points.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Celtics PG Terry Rozier suffered a sprained right ankle in Saturday's loss and is day-to-day.
2. Nuggets SF Wilson Chandler (illness) left Saturday's game and is questionable for Monday.
3. Irving scored 33 points in Boston's 124-118 home win over Denver on Dec. 13.