After a tough loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Celtics concluded their West Coast road trip with a visit to the Mile High City to take on the Denver Nuggets. With Nikola Jokic out for this game, the Celtics were able to take care of business, defeating the Nuggets 118-106.

Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 29 points and 11 rebounds on 11-23 shooting, while Kristaps Porzingis had one of his best games of the season with 25 points and 11 rebounds on 9-18 shooting. Jrue Holiday also had a great game with 19 points and 7 assists as he felt like he was always in the right place at the right time.

The Celtics were missing three balls, but they dominated the game in this game and won the points in the game 60-46.

Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images

The Celtics’ offense began with a lot of touches from Kristaps Porzingis as he scored the first basket for Boston with a mid-range shot and scored 9 of the Celtics’ first 12 points. The Nuggets looked good on offense, and Michael Porter Jr., Jamal Murray and Russell Westbrook were also key players.

Porzingis finished the first quarter with 15 points at 6-10, including getting an alley-oop after Jayson Tatum blocked Christian Braun on one side and found Kristaps on the other.

The Celtics led 37-25 after the first quarter and their offense was running. Boston posted a 14-27 (51.9%) record in the quarter as the undermanned Nuggets had no answer for them. Porzingis (15) and Tatum (11) combined for 26 of the Celtics’ 37 points in the quarter. Boston’s paint defense was also elite, allowing just two points in the paint after one.

Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

The Celtics continued their hot performance early in the second quarter as they took a 15-point lead over the Nuggets two minutes later. Denver responded with a 13-2 run of its own, cutting Boston’s lead to single digits.

Neemias Queta made his presence felt with three straight goals for the Celtics as he played some solid minutes for Boston in the quarter, finishing with eight points.

Jamal Murray began to step up, scoring eight straight points for Denver at the end of the quarter as Boston struggled to hit shots. Payton Watson started to make an impact on this game with three blocks in the first half and a corner three that tied the game at 57-57 early in the half.

The Nuggets ended the first half with a 12-4 run and finished with four players scoring in double figures. Boston started the second quarter well but couldn’t sustain it as their three-point shooting hurt them. The Celtics shot just 5-16 (31.3%) from long range in the half, while Denver outscored them 9-18 (50%) from three.

The Jays were cold in the first half as they combined for 15 points on 5-for-18 shooting. Jaylen Brown in particular struggled with just 2 points on 0-4 shooting. Kristaps Porzingis was the Celtics’ leading scorer at halftime with 16 points, while Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 15 points.

Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

The second half began with Jaylen Brown providing relief for the Celtics’ offense with three straight baskets and a nice assist to Porzingis early in the third quarter. The Nuggets were able to respond as the lead switched back and forth.

Midway through the quarter, a very loud chant of “Let’s go, Celtics” rang out in Ball Arena, just as Jrue Holiday grabbed a hard rebound and hit a charging Tatum for a dunk on the other side.

The Celtics were able to hold off the Nuggets with the lineup of Tatum and the bench, securing an 88-83 lead at the end of the third quarter. Jaylen Brown rebounded in the third quarter to score 8 points on 4-4 shooting. The Celtics still had a three-point shot, but dominated scoring in the paint.

Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

The fourth quarter started similarly to the third quarter, with both teams trading baskets. The Celtics played tough defense, highlighted by Porzingis finding DeAndre Jordan at the top to prevent a potential poster dunk.

With Denver only having one timeout left midway through the quarter, the Celtics went on a 12-0 run to push their lead back to double digits and force the Nuggets to use their final timeout with less than five minutes left in the period quarter. This run had everyone involved as it included a put-back dunk from Porzingis, a Holiday three-pointer, a Brown layup, an Al Horford three-pointer and finally a nasty mid-range jump shot from Jayson Tatum.

The Nuggets tried to fight back but just didn’t have enough as Tatum and Holiday buried them down the stretch, giving the Celtics the win.

The Celtics return home for their next game on Friday, January 10th when they face the Sacramento Kings at 7:30 p.m.