Celts get tripped up again
Drop 2nd in a row to start road swing
DENVER — When asked before last night’s game about the Celtics offense’s cold start to the season, Mike Malone asked for someone to pump the brakes.
“They’re improving rapidly,” said the Denver coach.
Not rapidly enough, though — not by the time Nuggets guard Jamal Murray was finished rifling his way to a career-high 48point night.
The Celtics fell to Murray’s Nuggets last night, 115107, and are now officially in their first losing streak of the season. They are also off to an 0-2 start on this early five-city western road trip.
The Celtics squandered a season-high-tying 31-point night from Kyrie Irving, with too few of his mates able to muster offensive support. Jayson Tatum (15 points) and Gordon Hayward (eight points, nine rebounds) shot a combined 8-for-21.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Murray capped an 11-4 Denver run with 6:45 left. Murray, who had nine points in the run, came back with his 40th point 37 seconds later.
The Nuggets guard hit two more jumpers over the next three minutes, with the Celtics answering each time. Murray’s drive with 2:53 left gave the Nuggets a 112-105 lead.
By the time he somehow snatched an inbounds pass out of a crowd and beat Irving with a scoop, the Celtics were trailing by nine points (114-105) with 1:14 left. The Celtics would run out of clock.
Denver had the last word in the third, closing out a quarter that found the Celtics taking the lead eight times with an 11-2 run over the last 3:05 creating an 88-81 advantage.
Several Celtics were in a tough way offensively, with starters Tatum (4-for-11), Hayward (2-for-5) and Jaylen Brown (4-for-10) all unable to find a flow. Marcus Morris (2-for-8) and Terry Rozier (2-for-8) weren’t any better.
Tatum gave himself a boost with the first five points of the fourth. When Trey Lyles hit from downtownforDenver,theCeltics answered behind a Al Horford post-up, followed by Irving’s right corner 3. The latter cut the Denver lead to 91-90 with 9:12 left.
And that’s where Denver started finding the basket again, with an 11-4 run that included nine points from Murray, capped by back-toback 3-pointers from the Nuggets guard. The second trey, which triggered a Celtics timeout with 6:45 left, was good for a 102-94 lead.
Irving was off to his hottest start of the early season with a 16-point first half that included a 3-pointer for a 5654 halftime lead. The Celtics needed every drop Irving could provide, in light of Murray’s scorching 23-point first half.
The Celtics took the lead five times over the first three minutes of the third quarter, including an Irving threepoint play for a brief 64-61 edge, only to be tied by the Nuggets each time. Denver finally broke through when Juan Hernangomez hit a 3-pointer, followed by two Murray free throws, for a 7168 lead with 7:16 left.
Gary Harris’ three-point play, at the expense of the just-subbed in Robert Williams, helped build Denver’s cushion, soon to be wiped out, first by Williams’ putback dunk, and then on a Horford post-up over old Atlanta mate, Paul Millsap.
But Denver, now answering every Celtics query, hit the C’s with a quarter-closing 11-2 run for an 88-81 lead.