Nuggets vs Celtics - Round Two

Last time these teams met, KG and Pierce's clutch shots helped the C's to a victory.

Though the trade deadline hoopla is the current hot topic of the NBA, there is still games to be played. Tonight the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets meet in the mile-high city for their second and final meeting this season.

The last time these teams met, they were holding the longest winning streaks in the NBA; Nuggets had won nine straight while the C's had six victories in a row. The two hottest teams in the NBA at the time put on a display of pure grit and balls in a triple overtime slug fest. Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Jason Terry and Jeff Green all hit clutch baskets in the final frames of the contest. Tonight, don't expect anything less than a full out battle between these two teams. Here are a two quick keys that can help the Celtics grab their first win after the All Star break.



  • Defense: In the last meeting against the Nuggets, the Celtics made costly mistakes at the end of the game which allowed Denver's guards to score clutch baskets. Avery Bradley and Courtney Lee have a tough task tonight as they match up against Ty Lawson (15.8 PPG & 7.1 APG) and Andre Miller (8.9 PPG), who seemed unstoppable in the clutch in the previous meeting. Brandon Bass also has a tough match up tonight, as he is up against "The Manimal", Kenneth Faried. 

  • 50/50 Balls, Rebounding: The Nuggets are tough on the glass, led by Faried (9.7 boards per contest). The C's bigs will need to fight for every board against Denver to prevent second chance opportunities. In the final game before the All Star break, we saw Brandon Bass play extremely well against the Chicago Bulls, putting up 14 points and snatching 9 rebounds against Carlos Boozer & Joakim Noah. Kevin Garnett will be rested and ready for this game for sure, but if we can get Bass to play as he did against Chicago, well that'd be an added bonus.

As I said before, expect this game be another battle & very fun to watch. Tip off is around 9:00 p.m. ET. Go Celtics!