The Denver Nuggets started their championship quest 7800 miles from home, but the starters looked to be in good shape in the first half and the bench fought down the stretch in a tight finish to get that experience under their belts, losing 107-103 to the Boston Celtics in Abu Dhabi. The game was meaningless but more fun than a preseason game normally is, but everything you’d want to see from Denver’s offense without KCP was there. The Celtics rained 60+ three point attempts on the Nuggets, but Nikola Jokic had 14 points, 8 boards and 2 assists, Michael Porter Jr. and Russell Westbrook each had 12 points, and Julian Strawther added 11 for the bench. Westbrook’s 8 assists kept the bench organized, but preseason games are for trying out matchups and concepts you may not go to very often in the regular season and Denver did a lot of that. All in all a nice first game from both new and returning players.

Game Recap

Jamal hit a nice three from the corner as the Celtics double-teamed Nikola. The refs called an offensive foul on Nikola on an off-ball push, but Aaron Gordon hit a nice stepback the next time down. Jokic got his second foul on a reach just four minutes in, but a transition layup on a steal by MPJ made it 9-4 Nuggets early. Jamal airballed off a potential MPJ assist, but the sloppiness was apparent for both teams. MPJ got his 7th point on an AG-assisted layup, answered by a Tatum deep shot, and then Jokic finger-rolled in a finish. MPJ traveled on a 3, Jamal had a rebound stripped for a Boston finish, but Russ came in the game and the energy picked up as he hit a 3 off a Jokic assist. Derrick White and Tatum made threes as well though, Gordon missed one and the Celtics took the lead 21-20 on a White layup. Strawther missed a three but blocked a White layup, Saric finished inside and finished a traditional three-point play, then hit another finish as Denver wrapped the quarter up 32-25 after a Cancar corner 3 in the waning seconds.

Denver started the second quarter a little out of sync, with a missed Russ layup and a Vlatko out-of-bounds turnover on the offensive side, and 4 straight missed defensive rebounds that prompted an early rage timeout from Michael Malone. Strawther made a three answered by Pritcheard, then Hunter Tyson hit a 3 of his own. More sloppy play from both teams followed though, as bricks and blown finishes from the bench guys left Denver up 43-37 with 5 minutes gone and the starters began filtering back in. Jokic had another nice finish, Gordon hit a 3 to extend the lead to double digits, but Pritchard hit a pair of 3s and Tatum’s free throw tied the game at 50. MPJ’s transition dunk and the half-court-assist from AG to Braun put Denver back up. Jokic finished in the paint, Tillman made a Boston 3, and then the two teams had a playoff-level fight on Denver’s offensive side with denials and rebounds and passes that finally ended in a Denver putback. Murray got on the floor for a ball, showing the competitive energy had picked up from the first, and Denver finished the half up 63-56 after a Celtics miss at the buzzer.

The third quarter began with the reserves out in force and the Nuggets starters relegated to towel waving with their work in the first preseason game complete. Hunter Tyson buried a three, Strawther had a tough finish off a hustle rebound from Dario Saric. Tillman made a 3 for Boston, Russ passed to Deandre Jordan for a dunk, and Denver’s bench looked well-organized for being the first game. Westbrook made another 3 to extend Denver’s lead to 73-61, and then a transition dunk attempt off a quick pass from Westbrook was almost great from Deandre… until it didn’t fall. The Celtics made a pair of threes to force a timeout, then Trey Alexander scored his first points in a Denver uniform with a floater. Denver finished the third quarter up 80-79.

It was basically all deep bench to start the fourth quarter, as Boston and Denver exchanged threes. Pickett hit a buzzer beater but both he and Alexander missed paint shots. Strawther didn’t miss his drive but the Nuggets struggled with finishes and turnovers as Boston took the lead. Strawther tied it up with 6 minutes to go, but the Celtics made a couple of buckets before Zeke Nnaji hit a turnaround in the paint and earned free throws his next trip down. Denver trailed 95-92 when a turnover by PJ Hall on the outlet after a rebound turned into a made Celtics 3 on their 59th attempt of the game. Peterson hit Boston’s 60th attempt as well but the Nuggets fought back with another Zeke bucket and a Trey-Alexander-induced fastbreak off a turnover. A scoring discrepancy took a bucket off the tally for Denver to make it 103-102, forcing Denver to foul Boston and leading to an extended timeouts-and-free-throws stretch that eventually made the final score 107-103 Boston.

Final Thoughts

Denver’s starters look good. Jamal didn’t do a lot of scoring but looked flexible and athletic on both sides of the court, even getting on the floor for a loose ball at the end of the first half. Jokic mauled the Celtics in the second quarter, as they were simply not big enough to stop him. MPJ was finishing at the rim and running in transition, Aaron Gordon was experimenting with threes, and Christian Braun played great defense on Tatum and hit some finishes on cuts. It’s not quite mid-season form, but the Nuggets look like the Nuggets, and that’s all I really want to see in game one of the preseason.

Denver’s bench is working on roles. Russell Westbrook is still figuring out his guys and where each of them will be. He had some missed layups early but was making passes to try to get Jordan and Strawther open finishes in the second half. Dario was playing the 4 in the second half next to Deandre after playing the backup 5 in the first half, and the second half was a little rough as they obviously did not have much time to work out their roles in the shortened 3-day training camp before this trip. Saric at the 4 and being forced into perimeter defense while not being involved in pick-and-rolls is not how I expect him to be used in the regular season, but if you want to see the limitations and strengths of the roster options then the preseason is a good time to experiment. Jalen Pickett also got a handful of minutes in the 3rd quarter to run the offense with Trey Alexander at the shooting guard, and let’s just say I hope not to see too much of that pairing during the regular season either.

Game 2 Sunday!