Boston Celtics squeeze past the Denver Nuggets, 118-114 in triple OT

Boston are on a roll; ever since they lost Rajon Rondo, they are 7-0 for the season. The Celtics defeated the Nuggets 118-114 in a triple overtime thriller and ended the Nuggets’ 9-game win streak.

No one would infer that Rondo’s removal is resulting in wins because of addition by subtraction, there are few players who can get 15 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists on the same night and players like that don’t hurt the team. Fact is, that the Celtics have had other players step up and take charge when needed. They are a versatile bunch, having two hall-of-fame athletes in Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, who are surrounded by great role players. A lot of players on their bench could be starters on other teams. Jeff Green, Jason Terry and Leandro Barbossa are all capable starters and all three come off the bench for Boston.

And in this triple overtime battle Green and Terry came up big. Terry had 26 points on 10-22 shooting to lead the bench. Green added 17 points on 6-10 shooting and grabbed 4 rebounds. Jason Terry had a pivotal play as he stole the ball from Andre Miller in the last minute of the 3rd overtime.

None of that would have happened if it wasn’t for Pierce sending it to overtime in the first place:

“You know, it was a clear case of two teams that have been playing great; one had won nine [in a row], one had won six [in a row], and neither team wanted to lose the game,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

The starters had a big game too. Paul Pierce shot 7 for 20 but got 27 points as he went 8-9 from the free throw line. He had 14 rebounds and 14 assists for a heavy triple double. Pierce played for 54 minutes in this one. This was his second triple double in two weeks. The Celtics are 8-0 when Paul Pierce gets a triple double. Kevin Garnett also didn’t shoot too well but he got 20 points on 9-24 shooting with his 18 rebounds and 6 assists. His 18 rebounds were a season high for him. He outscored the Nuggets 6-3 in the third overtime by himself. Avery Bradly had 13 points on 6-12 shooting with his 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

“This was a great game to be a part of. It was a great win against a quality ball club, not to say the other teams weren’t quality teams we played, but you know, this is the type of win that can give us confidence to move forward,” said Paul Pierce.

For the Nuggets, Ty Lawson led the way with 29 points on 13-22 shooting with 6 rebounds and 9 assists. But he missed a 3 which could have won it in overtime. He played a game high 54:40 minutes. Andre Igoudala was a no show with 5 points in 20 minutes of action. Danilo Gallinari played 49 minutes and had 18 points on 7-20 shooting with 10 rebounds, but he missed a layup, which could have won it in 2nd overtime. The ‘Manimal’ Kenneth Faried added 14 points and 12 rebounds. Andre Miller led the bench with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists.

The Celtics shot 39.8% from the field to 42.5% of the Nuggets. But they had the advantage at the line where they went 19-24 to 10-17 of the Nuggets. The Nuggets also out-rebounded the Celtics 65-51. The Celtics moved the ball better as they had 34 assists to 25 of the Nuggets.

The Celtics improved to 27-23 and are in the 7th playoff spot in the East while riding a 7-game winning streak. They are now 7 -3 in their last 10 games. Write this team off at your own peril. Rondo or no Rondo, they are proving that they have what it takes to go deep in the playoffs. One concern would be the health of Pierce and Garnett, neither are in their prime and can’t be expected to play 40 minutes every night and still be ready for playoffs. The Nuggets dropped to 3-19 to the fifth spot in the West.

Here are the highlights from the game: