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Denver Nuggets (2-3) at Boston Celtics (3-2)
Sunday, November 6, 2016
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #6 Home Game #3
TV: CSNNE, Altitude, NBA-LP 756(DTV), 751(Xfinity)
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, 950 AM
TD Garden
Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Isaiah Thomas vs Emmanuel Mudiay
Shooting Guard 
vs
Avery Bradley vs Jamal Murray
Small Forward 
vs
Jaylen Brown vs Danilo Gallinari
Power Forward 
vs
Amir Johnson vs Nikola Jokic
Center
vs
Tyler Zeller vs Jusuf Nurkic
Celtics ReservesMarcus Smart
Gerald Green
Demetrius Jackson
Jordan Mickey
Terry Rozier
James Young
Jonas Jerebko
InjuriesKelly Olynyk (shoulder) questionable
Al Horford (concussion) out
Jae Crowder (ankle) out
Head CoachBrad Stevens
Nuggets ReservesMalik Beasley
Wilson Chandler
Kenneth Faried
Juancho Hermangmez
Mike Miller
Jameer Nelson
Jurnell Stokes
Gary Harris
Injuries Darrell Arthur (knee) probable
Will Barton (ankle) out
Head Coach Michael Malone
Game Notes The Celtics host the Denver Nuggets for their only visit to Boston this season. The Celtics have been off since Thursday and so should be rested and ready for this game. The Nuggets are playing on the second night of back to back games after losing to Detroit 86-103 on Saturday night.
This will be the Celtics first game against a Western Conference team. They have played all Eastern Conference foes in the first 5 games. The Nuggets are playing the 4th game of a 5 game road trip and may be feeling a bit of fatigue at this point.
Kelly Olynyk has been cleared for full practice with contact and even spent a day with the Red Claws to get an extra practice in. He has been upgraded to questionable for this game. It will be a game time decision. Al Horford and Jae Crowder are both making progress but are expected to be out for this game. Tyler Zeller and Jaylen Brown started in place of Horford and Crowder against Cleveland and I'm going to guess that they may start once again in this game.
For Denver, Darrell Arthur missed Saturday's game in Detroit with a knee injury but is listed as probable for this game. Gary Harris has been out with a groin pull but returned on Saturday against the Pistons. Will Barton is expected to be out with an ankle sprain.
Key Matchups vs
Jaylen Brown vs Danilo Gallinari
I'm just guessing that Brown will start at small forward once again with Jae expected to be out. This may be a tough matchup for both teams. Gallinari has a height advantage and needs to be covered all over the court because he has good range on his shot. On the other hand, Jaylen has a strength advantage and should be able to out muscle him in the paint. Gallinari averages 16.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game and stretches the floor with his 3 point shot.
vs
Tyler Zeller vs Jusuf Nurkic
Nurkic, the Nuggets 3rd year center is off to a very good start for the Nuggets. He is playing well and averaging 16.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists. Zeller must work to keep him out of the paint.
Honorable MentionIsaiah Thomas vs Emmanuel Mudiay
Mudiay has been off to a strong start for the Nuggets and is averaging 15.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He has a height advantage over Isaiah (but then who doesn't?) but Isaiah has a way of neutralizing height advantages with his speed and wily moves.
Keys to the Game Defense - Defense is the key to every game. The Celtics were expected to have a top 3 defense this season but they have not started out that way. They are second to the last in the league with a defensive rating of 109.1. As Isaiah Thomas said, they need to get their grit and grind back.
Be Aggressive - The Celtics must be the more aggressive team. They have to fight for loose balls, defend aggressively, be aggressive in driving to the basket, and just play harder than the Nuggets for the entire game. They have to be the team that wants it more. They can't let the Nuggets outwork them.
Rebound - The Nuggets are a very good rebounding team, averaging 52.2 rebounds per game. The Celtics are averaging just 40.4 rebounds. It will be tough rebounding against the Nuggets big front line, but much of rebounding is effort and when the Celtics put extra effort into grabbing rebounds, that effort often translates to the rest of their game. They have to crash the boards as a team and box out the Nuggets or this could be a long night.
3rd Quarter - The Nuggets have been second only to Golden State in 3rd quarter scoring. They have been averaging 31.8 third quarter points and allowing opponents just 22 points in the quarter. The Celtics have to come out strong after the half and match the Nuggets energy.
X-Factors Injuries - The Celtics are going to be missing two starters and key players. The remaining players have to step up their games in order to make up for the players who are out. How well they do this will be the biggest x-factor.
Rust vs Fatigue Once again, the Celtics have been off since their game on Thursday. After a couple of days, sometimes a team will lose their edge. Hopefully they come into this game ready to go. The Nuggets on the other hand are playing in back to back games and in the 4th game of a 5 game road trip and so they may run out of steam by the end of the game.
Topic: Nuggets (2-3) at Celtics (3-2) Game #6 11/6/16 (Read 49230 times)