The Celtics return home after a productive one-week trip to Abu Dhabi, and they picked up a pair of wins in the process.
In Game 2 against the Nuggets overseas, the Celtics had an offensive explosion with a 130-104 preseason win Sunday. The team now returns back to the U.S. after what was a busy trip.
While the game stayed within single-digits through halftime, the Celtics dominated the Nuggets in the third quarter, outscoring them 42-16 to blow it open. So the C’s didn’t need to rally back from a double-digit deficit for the victory this time like they did in Game 1 in Abu Dhabi. Similar to last Friday’s win, the starters played a majority of the first half before making way for the bench players in the second half.
Jaylen Brown led the way for the Celtics with 21 points. Jayson Tatum’s jumper also looked just fine with 17 points and four assists, finishing 3-for-7 from 3-point land. Derrick White had 13 points, five rebounds and six assists. Nikola Jokic put up 20 points and seven rebounds. The Nuggets also rested a pair of starters in Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon.
Here are four takeaways from the Celtics’ win over the Nuggets in Abu Dhabi:
Staying aggressive: While these games are still exhibition and don’t count in the standings, Brown played with an edge throughout Sunday. He was physical in getting some buckets and even picked up a technical foul. Brown showed off his body control and physicality, finishing 8-for-16 from the field as part of his 21-point game. Brown came back from the summer in great shape and it he hasn’t missed a beat on the court. That’s a huge plus for the Celtics as Brown gears up to have another productive season coming off his postseason awards.
Offensive explosion: Even though it doesn’t count in the standings, it was an impressive scoring outburst from the C’s bench Sunday. The starters got a few minutes to open the second half, but it was the depth crew blowing the game open in the third quarter, where the C’s outscored the Nuggets 42-16. The Celtics also shot 50.5% from the field to finish with the 130 points. That’s an impressive point total at this point in the season. Payton Pritchard continues to pour it on in the preseason, having 14 points and five assists. Sam Hauser also caught fire, shooting 6-for-7 (3-for-3 on 3s), as he had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Monitoring the bigs: Just like Game 1 of the series, Al Horford got the day off as Luke Kornet got the starting nod. The Celtics will be cautious with their 38-year-old big man in Horford, plus Kristaps Porzingis is sidelined coming off his injury. Kornet played extended minutes with the starters in both the first and second quarters. It looks like he’ll be one of the first options for the Celtics in the bigs rotation. Interestingly, Neemias Queta also got some extra run in the first quarter with the starting group. So keep an eye on how the minutes distribution looks through the rest of the preseason. Xavier Tillman showed off some nice things with 10 points, including putting up a couple 3-pointers.
Returning home: The Celtics had a busy week between flying from Boston to Abu Dhabi, then all the obligations that come from league functions overseas. They’ll fly back stateside after Sunday’s game, then they’ll likely be right back to practices after readjusting their body clocks. The C’s get some time off before finishing off their preseason schedule with three games in four nights next week. Next up is a home preseason game against the 76ers on Saturday at TD Garden, the first time the C’s play in front of their home crowd since the NBA Finals.
