Denver center Nikola Jokic, left, looks to pass the ball as Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis defends on Thursday in Denver. David Zalubowski/Associated Press
DENVER — There was little doubt who was the best player on the floor Thursday night as Nikola Jokic put on a show against the Celtics in the Denver’s 115-109 win.
Jokic piled up 32 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists against a Celtics defense that didn’t have many answers for him. Kristaps Porzingis was Boston’s main defender on the big man but couldn’t help but gush about the former MVP.
“He was definitely in his bag tonight and he’s just, he’s just an incredible basketball player,” Porzingis said. “Some things I learned from him today actually. He’s just so smart, so crafty, so many things that you don’t see that he does on the floor that helps that team win. It’s incredible. Whenever you overhelp him just a little bit, he will find (Aaron) Gordon, he will find all these guys and it just speaks of how valuable he is for them and what he does for them. Really, really, really hard to stop.”
While Porzingis hinted that he may have figured out a couple of Jokic’s tricks, he refused to reveal just exactly what the revelation was.
“A couple of tricks that he does. I’ll leave it at that,” Porzingis said.
The Celtics have to hope Porzingis does have some sort of answer for the big man since Boston came up empty trying different options all night. Jokic was efficient in the post all night (11 of 19) and got to the free-throw line (10 of 10) regularly against mismatches. Whether it was dishing the ball against double teams or taking advantage of his strength advantage against Porzingis or a smaller defender, Jokic made the right play all night and left Boston Coach Joe Mazzulla with no good options.
“It’s a difficult decision only because of all the other stuff,” Mazzulla said, “Last time we played them we only had two turnovers. We had 12 tonight. … But that’s the lesson tonight is just those things. Taking care of the basketball, our offensive execution which leads to their transition defense, and got to the free-throw line, just didn’t make them.”
Celtics guard Jaylen Brown probably spent the least amount of time on Jokic compared to his teammates in he starting five but wants to provide an alternative option in future matchups.
“Jokic is just a monster down there,” Brown said. “We threw some different coverages at him, we guarded him one on one, we tried to have late help and stuff like that. I feel like I should have guarded Jokic a little bit, a little more. I wish I would’ve had those opportunities a little bit. I could keep him away from the basket and we could’ve took away some of those layups they got. But I feel like we still had every chance to win this game and just came up short.”
The Celtics won’t have a chance to see Jokic again this season unless both teams reach the NBA Finals. Despite being swept in the season series, Porzingis remains confident the result will be different next time around.
“They beat us a couple times,” Porzingis said. “The margins of who wins and who loses is small. They beat us at home. Hats off to them. Then they beat us in their own home. … I like that we have this loss in the regular season. It stings. It has to sting. And we have to learn and we have to improve and also some mental things that we could take from this game.
“We had some emotional plays that we cannot allow to happen in the playoffs. Some technicals that we don’t need completely. Those are things that we’ll take away from this game and bounce back.”
FOR THE BETTER part of 48 minutes, it was tough to tell whether the Celtics or Nuggets were the home team at Ball Arena.
Boston fans always travel well to watch their team but nearly half of the arena was filled with green for the matchup between the NBA’s best team this year and the defending champions.
Fans from both sides battling with dueling chants in the tight affair before the Nuggets held off a Celtics comeback.
Nuggets Coach Michael Malone couldn’t help but take a playful jab at Celtics fans that attempted to take over his home arena on Thursday night.
“Oh yeah. It was another playoff atmosphere for sure,” Malone said. “As we talked pregame, you have to give the Celtics’ fans credit, they always come out strong. But you know what we say, right? ‘They can take L on the way out, baby.’ ”’”
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