Nuggets (2-3) at Celtics (3-2) Game #6 11/6/16

[FLCeltsFan]

at
Denver Nuggets (2-3) at Boston Celtics (3-2)
Sunday, November 6, 2016
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game [HASH]6 Home Game [HASH]3
TV: CSNNE, Altitude, NBA-LP 756(DTV), 751(Xfinity)
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, 950 AM
TD Garden


Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Isaiah Thomas vs Emmanuel Mudiay

Shooting Guard
vs
Avery Bradley vs Jamal Murray

Small Forward
vs
Jaylen Brown vs Danilo Gallinari

Power Forward
vs
Amir Johnson vs Nikola Jokic

Center
vs
Tyler Zeller vs Jusuf Nurkic




Celtics Reserves
Marcus Smart
Gerald Green
Demetrius Jackson
Jordan Mickey
Terry Rozier
James Young
Jonas Jerebko

Injuries
Kelly Olynyk (shoulder) questionable
Al Horford (concussion) out
Jae Crowder (ankle) out

Head Coach
Brad Stevens


Nuggets Reserves
Malik Beasley
Wilson Chandler
Kenneth Faried
Juancho Hermangmez
Mike Miller
Jameer Nelson
Jurnell Stokes
Gary Harris

Injuries
Darrell Arthur (knee) probable
Will Barton (ankle) out

Head Coach
Michael Malone

Game Notes
The Celtics host the Denver Nuggets for their only visit to Boston this season. The Celtics have been off since Thursday and so should be rested and ready for this game. The Nuggets are playing on the second night of back to back games after losing to Detroit 86-103 on Saturday night.

This will be the Celtics first game against a Western Conference team. They have played all Eastern Conference foes in the first 5 games. The Nuggets are playing the 4th game of a 5 game road trip and may be feeling a bit of fatigue at this point.

Kelly Olynyk has been cleared for full practice with contact and even spent a day with the Red Claws to get an extra practice in. He has been upgraded to questionable for this game. It will be a game time decision. Al Horford and Jae Crowder are both making progress but are expected to be out for this game. Tyler Zeller and Jaylen Brown started in place of Horford and Crowder against Cleveland and I'm going to guess that they may start once again in this game.

For Denver, Darrell Arthur missed Saturday's game in Detroit with a knee injury but is listed as probable for this game. Gary Harris has been out with a groin pull but returned on Saturday against the Pistons. Will Barton is expected to be out with an ankle sprain.

Key Matchups
vs
Jaylen Brown vs Danilo Gallinari
I'm just guessing that Brown will start at small forward once again with Jae expected to be out. This may be a tough matchup for both teams. Gallinari has a height advantage and needs to be covered all over the court because he has good range on his shot. On the other hand, Jaylen has a strength advantage and should be able to out muscle him in the paint. Gallinari averages 16.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game and stretches the floor with his 3 point shot.

vs
Tyler Zeller vs Jusuf Nurkic
Nurkic, the Nuggets 3rd year center is off to a very good start for the Nuggets. He is playing well and averaging 16.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists. Zeller must work to keep him out of the paint.

Honorable Mention
Isaiah Thomas vs Emmanuel Mudiay
Mudiay has been off to a strong start for the Nuggets and is averaging 15.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He has a height advantage over Isaiah (but then who doesn't?) but Isaiah has a way of neutralizing height advantages with his speed and wily moves.

Keys to the Game
Defense - Defense is the key to every game. The Celtics were expected to have a top 3 defense this season but they have not started out that way. They are second to the last in the league with a defensive rating of 109.1. As Isaiah Thomas said, they need to get their grit and grind back.

Be Aggressive - The Celtics must be the more aggressive team. They have to fight for loose balls, defend aggressively, be aggressive in driving to the basket, and just play harder than the Nuggets for the entire game. They have to be the team that wants it more. They can't let the Nuggets outwork them.

Rebound - The Nuggets are a very good rebounding team, averaging 52.2 rebounds per game. The Celtics are averaging just 40.4 rebounds. It will be tough rebounding against the Nuggets big front line, but much of rebounding is effort and when the Celtics put extra effort into grabbing rebounds, that effort often translates to the rest of their game. They have to crash the boards as a team and box out the Nuggets or this could be a long night.

3rd Quarter - The Nuggets have been second only to Golden State in 3rd quarter scoring. They have been averaging 31.8 third quarter points and allowing opponents just 22 points in the quarter. The Celtics have to come out strong after the half and match the Nuggets energy.

X-Factors
Injuries - The Celtics are going to be missing two starters and key players. The remaining players have to step up their games in order to make up for the players who are out. How well they do this will be the biggest x-factor.

Rust vs Fatigue
Once again, the Celtics have been off since their game on Thursday. After a couple of days, sometimes a team will lose their edge. Hopefully they come into this game ready to go. The Nuggets on the other hand are playing in back to back games and in the 4th game of a 5 game road trip and so they may run out of steam by the end of the game.

[jrmzt]

Mudiay is so streaky...you just don't know if this is the game he is going to erupt or shoot 1 for 15...he reminds me so much of michael carter williams...volume scorer with more off days than on.

I'm interested to see how Murray plays given our interest in him pre-draft. He was supposed to be a sharpshooter but so far hasn't really had much success. I'm starting to be wary of "sharpshooters" coming out of college.

[joshrblabber]

As a Canadian I have seen a lot of Murray, he was playing for the national team while still in high school. He is a lot more than a sharpshooter, he is a great combo guard. He always played point until his year at Kentucky, where he played off the ball because Ulis could only play point. He makes great decisions, is a pinpoint passer, and hits big crunch-time shots. I will be surprised if he does not become a perennial all-star. That said, he is just a rookie and AB should handle him tonight.

[FLCeltsFan]

Just read that Malone was talking about shaking up the starting lineup after they came out flat last night. We could see Jameer Nelson starting at point or Wilson Chandler who's been playing very well move up. Who knows.

[oldtimeball]

Defense is the key to success... We must get our grit and grind back.. I am not going to be able to watch the game.. I hate dish TV

[eja117]

Is it just me or does Smart look pretty slow?

[eja117]

Smart isn't the defensive player he used to be

[DERRENMATTS]

Nov 6, 2016 15:28:46 GMT -5 joshrblabber said:

As a Canadian I have seen a lot of Murray, he was playing for the national team while still in high school. He is a lot more than a sharpshooter, he is a great combo guard. He always played point until his year at Kentucky, where he played off the ball because Ulis could only play point. He makes great decisions, is a pinpoint passer, and hits big crunch-time shots. I will be surprised if he does not become a perennial all-star. That said, he is just a rookie and AB should handle him tonight.

I'm a fan of Murray. Good and crafty ball handler who can get to his spots and finish at the rim or pull up for jumpers. Fantastic shooter from far as well.

We're not doing well in this game. Too early to jump to conclusions, but giving up 43 pts in the first quarter isn't the way you want to start the game.

[mev17]

What a horrible game. Not looking very much like a top 3 team in the East. Last year's slow start killed us seeding-wise, so I am not very amenable to "well it's early" excuses. Seems every year this group takes half a season to figure out how to play well.

[DERRENMATTS]

Nov 6, 2016 22:01:14 GMT -5 mev17 said:

What a horrible game. Not looking very much like a top 3 team in the East. Last year's slow start killed us seeding-wise, so I am not very amenable to "well it's early" excuses. Seems every year this group takes half a season to figure out how to play well.

I don't think it's an excuse -- more like it is how it is, Mev. That's why you don't hear the pundits worry too much about a teams' struggles early on. I mean, the Warriors have already lost 2 of their 6 games. They only lost 9 all year last season. But no one's worried.

Now, I bet Brad isn't happy, and I bet the players are angry. But to think we aren't going to correct things after the 1st 6 games to start the season, I think it premature.

Especially considering we are missing 40% of our starting lineup, and our second unit needs time to getl.

[oldtimeball]

Isaiah Thomas scored 30 pts.. pretty efficiently but was a -30!😐 Wow!

Anyone know what Denver averages per game? Anyone still want to argue that defense isn't the issue? Denver looked pretty good in spite of playing a lot recently..

[oldtimeball]

Nov 6, 2016 22:52:56 GMT -5 DERRENMATTS said:

Nov 6, 2016 22:01:14 GMT -5 mev17 said:

What a horrible game. Not looking very much like a top 3 team in the East. Last year's slow start killed us seeding-wise, so I am not very amenable to "well it's early" excuses. Seems every year this group takes half a season to figure out how to play well.

I don't think it's an excuse -- more like it is how it is, Mev. That's why you don't hear the pundits worry too much about a teams' struggles early on. I mean, the Warriors have already lost 2 of their 6 games. They only lost 9 all year last season. But no one's worried.

Now, I bet Brad isn't happy, and I bet the players are angry. But to think we aren't going to correct things after the 1st 6 games to start the season, I think it premature.

Especially considering we are missing 40% of our starting lineup, and our second unit needs time to getl.

We don't have the talent they do.. We need to be worried. That is a totally different team.. We aren't in that league..

[FLCeltsFan]

Nov 6, 2016 20:35:30 GMT -5 eja117 said:

Smart isn't the defensive player he used to be

I think we need to give him a couple more games to get back to 100%.  He's just coming back from a sprained ankle and so his conditioning probably suffered while he was out.  He looks a step slow but I'd give him another game or so to get back up to speed before writing him off. 

[jmost]

I'm not going to try to convince anyone else, but I'm not drawing any conclusions about this team until I see Horford, Crowder and Smart all on the court together.

[DERRENMATTS]

And giving them time to jel.