Streak Ends, Streak Continues: Celtics 118, Nuggets 114 (3OT)

Five Things We Saw

1. Where do you even start with this game? We could write about this one for the rest of the year. After dismantling the Lakers on Thursday night, the Celtics managed an even more impressive win tonight against a Nuggets team that arrived in Boston with a nine-game winning streak. Four quarters and three overtimes later, the Celtics have won seven straight games and Denver has been formally cooled by the Association’s hottest team. Is this the game of the year so far? It’s definitely one for the time capsule.
2. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. They broke the molds when they made these two, who will be the last to wear #34 and #5 for this franchise. Tonight, Garnett went for 47 minutes and turned in 20 points, 18 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals, including three of the biggest baskets in the third overtime. Pierce went 54 minutes and pulled down a Rajon Rondo-style triple double, with 27 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists.
3. A myriad of crazy plays including an off-balance Pierce three-ball to tie the game, a series of clutch shots from Jeff Green as the game grew tighter, Garnett’s fountain of youth final period, Jason Terry’s backbreaking three-ball and subsequent steal, a bunch of reviewed (and still possibly missed) calls. It’s a long list of memorables.
4. I’ll speculate that this is the first game of the PP-KG partnership where the Celtics gave up 62 points in the paint and 65 rebounds. And if they’ve done it before, they certainly didn’t win that game.
5. A really scrappy, energetic Denver team that deserves notice. They’re still a player shy of being a title contender but nobody wants to draw them in the playoffs. This could have been a schedule-loss for the Nuggets. They were playing their third game in four nights and second in less than 24 hours and had they been run out of the gym, it would be understandable. But after a sluggish start, they hung around all game and were on the verge of victory a couple of times before the Celtics tore away the win. Special notice to Ty Lawson (29 and 9 in 55 minutes) who is Barry Allen-fast and not particularly guardable, even by an elite defender like Avery Bradley.