Nuggets left searching for answers after 121-101 blowout loss to Celtics

DENVER — Life comes at you fast. After a first half of the season that showed potential, life, and opportunity, the post-All-Star break version of the Denver Nuggets has been, perhaps, the exact opposite.

Tonight’s 121-101 loss at the hands of the Boston Celtics exemplified that while this team has a lot of young pieces that are headed for a bright future, times like tonight show just how far this roster still has to go.

“It was a lack of fight, a lack of togetherness.” a disappointed coach Michael Malone said postgame referring to the Nuggets inability to defend tonight.

Isaiah Thomas had 22 points, 12 assists and was a blur on the court throughout. Avery Bradley poured in 20 points, Jared Sullinger had his way with rookie Nikola Jokic to a tune of 16 points and 11 rebounds in just 23 minutes and Evan Turner came off the bench to score 17 points and grab 9 rebounds.

Out of the gate, this game had blowout written all over it. Boston got out to a 35-17 first quarter advantage and led 64-49 at halftime. A 10-3 Nuggets run to start the third trimmed that lead to eight, then down to five, but as soon as Boston re-discovered their stride and met Denver’s run with some resistance, the Nuggets folded.

“Coming out of the break our defense is still somewhere down in the Caribbean,” Malone said. “It’s non-existent and then the selfishness on both ends of the floor, and the quit that we showed tonight — that’s not who we’ve been. And hopefully we can get that out of our system and get back to being a team that fights and competes and plays hard for 48 minutes, because thats who we’ve been the whole season.”

For the Nuggets, Nikola Jokic had an effective offensive game and led the way with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Danilo Gallinari was smothered by Jae Crowder all night long and was held to 17 points on 5-11 shooting. Gallo did get to the line 10 times, converting on seven of those free-throws.

Gary Harris struggled, scoring 14 points on 6-14 shooting, but went 0-4 from three point range and seemed flustered by the pressure Boston’s guard provided. Emmanuel Mudiay was generally consistent, finishing with 18 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, but was a bit wild at times.

Kenneth Faried only played 13 minutes, going scoreless and with only 1 rebound. Faried’s season-low in minutes raises some eyebrows, but Malone offered an explanation for the Manimal.

“Second half he asked to come out,” Malone said. “So I’m not sure if he’s feeling well, I’m not sure what it was. But when your starting power forward has one rebound in 13 minutes and you get out rebounded by 12, that’s obviously an issue.”

Boston out rebounded Denver 48-36, a margin that can be largely attributed to effort.

“We quit on a number of plays tonight, and I thought we were very selfish tonight.” Malone said.

That quit Malone referenced can be applied to a number of plays, but one in particular comes to mind. At the start of the fourth quarter, Jusuf Nurkic bobbled a pass from D.J. Augustin and the ball was batted out towards the Celtics basket. Turner gave chase and miraculously saved the ball from going out of bounds to Bradley who scored, with no Nuggets having crossed half court.

“What happens sometimes is after the All-Star break, once that trade deadline is over with, sometimes you see true colors come out,” Malone said. “I hope tonight was just an anomaly and not who we are.”

WHERE/WHEN

Pepsi Center, February 21, 2016, Game No. 56

STAR OF THE GAME 

For the Nuggets, their best player tonight might have been D.J. Augustin. The newly-acquired point guard scored 13 points on 4-8 shooting in nearly 30 minutes of playing time. He provided a steady hand at the point and even played alongside Mudiay at times. With Jameer Nelson‘s availability for the rest of the season hanging in the balance, Augustin will be relied upon to give this team solid minutes.

BY THE NUMBERS

QUOTE OF THE GAME

Malone on the Nuggets lack of a defensive effort:

“Prior to the All-Star break we were so much better in that area, and i don’t know what happened over break. Guys are still on vacation, but we have come out of the break with no sense of a defensive identity and that’s disappointing and we have to find a way to get that back.”

LASTING IMPACT

The Nuggets fall to 22-34, 6.5 games out of the eighth seed. I think we can officially stop talking about the playoffs.

Although Denver wasn’t really in this game except for a stretch in the third quarter when they trimmed Boston’s lead to five, the sky is not falling by any means. Boston is a really good team. They’re extremely well coached, stacked with high IQ players and execute like a well-oiled machine. That’s exactly what they showed tonight.

WHAT’S NEXT

Denver hosts Sacramento on Tuesday before heading to Los Angeles to face the Clippers and then to Dallas. They do host the depleted Grizzlies, Nets and Lakers following that mini road trip.