The Boston Celtics started their four-game road trip strong and want to finish it that way after losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.
Boston beat the Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets on back-to-back days before falling to the Thunder and will try to complete a winning trip when it travels to Denver to face the Nuggets on Tuesday night.
The Celtics have won four of their past six games after dropping three of the previous four. They got whole again when Jaylen Brown returned to the lineup against Oklahoma City following a two-game absence due to a shoulder strain but faced a scare when fellow star Jayson Tatum collided with Thunder forward Jalen Williams and fell out of bounds in the third quarter.
Tatum said he is OK, though.
“My arm is just bruised,” Tatum said. “I kind of went forearm-first into a chair. It’s bruised, scraped up, but I’ll be alright.”
Tatum leads Boston in scoring (28.1 points per game), rebounding (9.4) and assists (5.5). Brown is second in scoring at 24.3 points per contest and Kristaps Porzingis has averaged 6.5 rebounds (albeit in only 13 games — all starts — so far this season).
Porzingis most recently missed four games due to an ankle injury that he sustained on Christmas Day against the Philadelphia 76ers. He returned to action in the win over the Rockets on Friday night.
“I felt alright,” Porzingis told reporters following the meeting with Houston. “Still haven’t been in my best shape this season yet, so it’s a little bit tough. But I’m happy to be healthy and working my way toward feeling better and better each game.”
The Celtics will need all of their weapons to get by Denver, which has averaged a whopping 124.5 points over its past 10 games.
Porzingis will likely have to guard three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who is putting together another campaign worthy of the award. Jokic is second in the NBA in scoring average (31.5) and assists (9.7) and third in rebounds (13.0).
Jamal Murray (19.4 ppg) and Michael Porter Jr. (19.1) are second and third on the team in scoring. The Nuggets have won six of their past 10 games despite not having Aaron Gordon for the past six due to a right calf strain.
Gordon missed 10 straight games earlier this season with the same injury. He took part in practice on Monday, but Denver coach Michael Malone has already ruled him out for the game against Boston.
Russell Westbrook has jumped into the starting lineup and has recorded a triple-double — the 201st of his career, the most in NBA history — and a double-double over his past six games. He missed another double-double by one point in a 122-111 overtime win against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night.
Westbrook will likely return to his bench role when Gordon is back, but Malone said he won’t worry about fitting the pieces together until Gordon can play.
“Hopefully we get healthy some point soon, get Aaron Gordon back, but we’ll make those decisions when we are fully whole,” Malone said.
