Nuggets blow by Celtics late in 114-110 final
A 14-0 run in the fourth quarter helped the Nuggets sink the Celtics late in a 114-110 final at TD Garden.
Jan 7, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jalen Pickett (24) controls the ball away from Boston Celtics guard Anfernee Simons (4) during the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
On the wrong end of a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter, the Celtics' four-game win streak came to an end Wednesday night with a 114-110 loss to the Nuggets at TD Garden.
Denver's 14-0 run began with the Celtics holding a 90-87 lead before a Zeke Nnaji basket (and one) brought the Nuggets back even with 7:07 left in regulation, and lasted for a span of 3:20 before the C's finally responded. Nnaji proved to be the Nuggets' most potent scoring over the run, scoring seven of their 14 points.
"Obviously we had some empty possessions on offense," Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said after the loss. "And [the Nuggets] did a good job versus our aggressive pick and roll coverage, just finding the two on one. Whether it was knocking down threes or hitting the roll, they did a good job executing on the offensive end.”
Peyton Watson led the way for the Nuggets in the win, with 30 points on 10-for-15 shooting, and with makes on six of his seven tries from downtown.
Jaylen Brown, meanwhile, seemed to feel that it would've been a game that got away from the Celtics had they been able to get to the line.
"I mean, they were physical [and] they got away with a lot," Brown, who scored a team-high 33 points in the loss, said when asked about the Nuggets' defensive efforts to close things out. "The refs allowed them to get away with a lot. I would love to get to the free throw line a little bit more. I was physical, I was aggressive, I went up strong, I didn’t flop, but, I kind of let the officiating get to my head a little bit.
"I think their defense was good, but it wasn’t great."
The Nuggets did hold a six-shot edge in fourth-quarter free throw attempts, but the real difference in this one came down to offensive execution late. In the fourth quarter alone, Denver connected on 57.9 percent of their field goals (11-for-19, 4-for-7 from deep), while the Celtics shot just 34.6 percent (9-for-26), and missed all but two of their nine attempts from three-point range in the loss.
Behind Brown, Derrick White (17 points) once again struggled to get going from beyond the arc, going just 3-for-12 from deep. This comes after White went a woeful 1-for-10 from three-point range on Monday night, and with White posting a rolling 15-for-61 (24.6 percent) line from deep over his last six games.
Elsewhere in the Boston lineup, Neemias Queta led the way for the Green on the rebounding front, with a career-high 20 boards in the loss. Queta became the first Celtic to grab 20 rebounds in a single game since Jared Sullinger in 2015.
The Celtics will play the penultimate game of this current four-game homestand Friday night when they host the Raptors at TD Garden.
