Why the Denver Nuggets crumbled in the clutch against the Boston Celtics

Another national television game against a top-tier opponent, another Nuggets loss. The Nuggets wrapped up their four-game road trip with a 110-103 defeat in Boston against the Celtics, but not after almost storming all the way back from down 20 late in the first half.

To make matters worse, The Mile High crew — the team with the NBA’s second-best net rating in clutch minutes — failed to seize a game right there for the taking down the stretch. After calling a timeout at 3:04, the Celtics engaged the Nuggets in a rock fight, daring anyone not named Nikola Jokic or Jamal Murray to beat them.

Let’s examine the final few minutes and what went wrong for Michael Malone’s bunch on the road.

Nuggets Offense Can’t Capitalize in the Clutch

The Nuggets played solid defense out of the timeout, with Russell Westbrook forcing Derrick White into a miss on his 11th three-point attempt of the afternoon.

A screen on Murray’s man sprung Jokic free at the left elbow, where he rifled a no-look pass off of an open-in-the-dunker-spot Westbrook’s hands out of bounds. While one would assume a healthy Aaron Gordon is down there come playoff time, Russ has to handle that pass when he’s out there with the big fella. This was another troubling outing for the former MVP out of the All-Star break.

On the other end, Jayson Tatum put too much air under his pass to a slipping White, allowing Westbrook to tap it to Jokic and begin the fast break. Seeing Christian Braun streaking down the left side, the Serbian big man threw an awkward pass (you don’t see that typed often!) that Braun opted to force into a blocked reverse layup attempt after the catch on the baseline.

Hard to say what exactly happened, but I think Jokic thought better of forcing the fast break with Boston getting back well midpass. Braun collected it on the baseline and got stuffed by Boston’s Brown on the reverse. I appreciate CB’s aggressiveness there, though the layup felt forced to me.

A questionable foul on Jokic at midcourt precipitated a missed step-back three-pointer from Tatum over the undersized Murray. After the rebound, Jokic hit a darting Westbrook on the left side, who handed the ball to a curling Michael Porter Jr. MPJ pulled up from deep two-point range but missed the open 22-footer as White scrambled around the Westbrook screen to contest.

The Celtics again looked to attack Murray on the defensive end, this time with Jaylen Brown. Despite an overwhelming size advantage he capitalized on throughout the day, Brown missed the 11-foot jumper after stepping back, away from the smaller Murray’s outstretched arm.

From there, the Blue Arrow collected the rebound and went to work. With White and Horford switched, Murray blew past the 38-year-old Dominican big man, and Jokic sealed White in the paint, paving the way for Murray to get to the cup easily. Three-point game with 75 seconds left.

But then it all fell apart for Denver on both ends.

A Final Minute to Forget

The Celtics set up their halfcourt offense, with Jaylen Brown hunting Murray again on the switch. Yet again, Murray forced a tough shot in the painted area from Boston’s NBA Finals MVP.

However, Russ crashed in too late, selling out for the block attempt — and no one found the Colorado kid, Derrick White, who cleaned the offensive glass and floated one in from just inside the free-throw line with 57 seconds to play. Brutal.

Even worse, Murray danced with Horford too much before forcing a bad pass toward Jokic. After the tipped pass, the deflection was picked up by White, who hit ahead to Brown. One dribble to get the Nuggets’ shoddy transition defense to commit, a dish to Horford storming down the lane and an easy layup. Dagger.

Down seven points with just over 30 seconds remaining, the Nuggets freed Murray up on an after-timeout play that saw Murray drop in two of his 22 second-half points on a nifty step-back dribble move. But I’m afraid that was too little too late for the Nuggets, as they were forced to foul the Celtics chasing the game’s final few possessions.

Tatum and Horford each hit a pair of free throws sandwiched around a layup from Jokic off a late pass from Murray to create the final margin of victory.

Encouraging Signs in a Loss

In spite of the tough loss, I came away hopeful that the Nuggets figured some things out. First, the second-half defense. Check out the following stat in this informative piece from Mile High Sports' Ryan Blackburn.

"“Denver allowed just a 102.1 defensive rating in the second half and a 95.0 with Jokic on the floor”"

Ryan Blackburn, Mile High Sports

That’s good enough to win multiple playoff series if you ask me. But the team with a 127.0 offensive rating in the clutch needs to show up in conjunction with that defense for Denver to have a shot.

Going 0-for-3 on crucial possessions in the game’s final three minutes is untenable for a team led by Jokic and Murray. The Jokic-Murray two-man game remains one of the most difficult to guard in the league, so the fact that we saw so little of it in the clutch was certainly perplexing.

Perhaps, as Michael Malone said before the matinee game, this strategy was part of the Nuggets trying “something different,” but I’m dubious. The Jokic-led offense — as evidenced by the 2023 title — can take them deep in the playoffs. But they need a solid enough defense to guard the elite teams of the league and turn around their disappointing record against such opponents.

Maybe the return of Peyton Watson to the lineup, coupled with Zeke Nnaji’s ongoing ascension, can provide the Nuggets with more defensive versatility in the season’s final 20ish games. It’s on coach Malone to find the right combination of offense AND defense next to Jokic and Murray depending on the matchup.

Buckle up, Nuggets Nation. It’s going to be an intriguing homestretch.