Stars have 30-30 vision
Big nights from Tatum and Brown in Denver
It wasn’t the first time Ime Udoka has been taken by the sheer wall of green he sees in the stands in certain cities, and Sunday night in Denver’s Ball Arena, the PA announcer had to actually lead a “Let’s Go Nuggets” chant to drown out the louder Celtics crowd.
“Obviously the amount of Celtics fans in the building was evident -- on the first basket you really heard it,” said the Celtics coach. “You could see green all through the stands. So, you’re playing right. You don’t get that if you’re not doing some things right, and obviously guys are doing things at a high level. So, (Jayson Tatum) and Jaylen (Brown) getting the 30/30 again, they’ve been doing that to some extent lately. I think everybody else feeding off them, the crowd as well, it helps us.”
It must be true, considering that the Celtics have become the road scourge of the NBA. Sunday night’s 124-104 win over a playoffbound Denver team, anchored by the reigning league MVP, was one of the greatest examples yet of their dominance since the start of the year.
But whether it’s Denver, or a tougher Golden State crowd, the Celtics have clearly developed the closeknit nature of a good road team.
“I do think we kind of embrace playing against the home crowds. We do have a lot of fans on the road as well, but our thing is be who we are, regardless of home or on the road we want to come out and set a tone,” said Udoka. “I think getting off to these really good starts defensively, teams know what we’re about now and the numbers show that. Our thing is to come out and prove that. So that’s the message each and every night against different opponents.
“One night you’re going against (Steph) Curry and (Klay) Thompson, Trae Young and (Ja) Morant, and all these different matchups,” he said. “But we want to be who we are and be able to adapt everybody and play a certain way. So, the offense is sharing the ball, great movement, 29 assists tonight, 33 the other night, so that ball is popping and guys are making shots, but defensively setting that tone from the start is the real message, night in and night out.”
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum both broke the 30point barrier for the second straight game, and for the sixth time as a duo this season. The Celtics have won 19 of their last 23 games, and are 3-0 on their current western road trip, with the finale Monday night in Oklahoma City. Sunday’s win moved them within a half game of second place Milwaukee and Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference.
Tatum moved past Ray Allen into third place on the Celtics’ all-time 3-pointers list, this time with a 27point, six-trey performance. The 24-year-old now has 801 career treys, with only Paul Pierce (1,823) and Antoine Walker (937) ahead of him.
Brown followed up his 30point performance Friday night in Sacramento with another 30, this time on 12for-19 shooting.
Nikola Jokic, the reigning MVP, struggled against Celtics coverage, needing 23 shots to reach 23 points. It was an early night for all of the Nuggets, though, with the Celtics blowing this one open with a 28-5 second quarter run that included three treys each from Tatum and Payton Pritchard — the latter on his way to a 5-for-5 night from 3-point range.
Pritchard has shot 9-for-9 from downtown over his last two games, and 11-for-15 during the road trip, including big shots down the stretch of wins over the
Warriors and Kings. His 17point performance Sunday night led a bench that has come a long way since the additions of Derrick White and Daniel Theis.
Brown closed out the third quarter with a 3-pointer for a 98-75 lead, and the Nuggets starters, embarrassed when coach Mike Malone benched them at the start of the second half, came out with some of their best basketball of the night in the form of a 6-0 run.
The Nuggets cut the C’s lead as close as 16 points, before Tatum buried his fifth three of the night, followed the next time down with a screaming dunk over Jokic to put this one to rest.
Perhaps the greatest example yet of how well the Celtics are playing was evident in that mammoth 28-5 run that staked them to a 6843 halftime lead.
As Jokic struggled to make shots -- the Nuggets center was 5-for-19 from the floor by halftime -- the Celtics ignited. Tatum and Pritchard each had three 3-pointers in the run.
Overall the Celtics again ran off their league-leading defense, often pulling up from downtown, where they shot 11-for-21 (52.4%), for that billowing halftime lead.
Malone started the third with his reserves on the floor, who immediately kicked in with a 7-0 run that forced a fast timeout from Udoka. His team didn’t need further scolding.
This time Brown took up the attack, splitting the Nuggets with a tomahawk dunk for an 80-57 lead, and coming back 45 seconds later with a 3-pointer. The Celtics then kicked in with a 7-0 burst for a 29-point lead, and dueled Denver for the rest of the quarter, which Brown capped with a 3-pointer for a 98-75 lead.