Nuggets vs. Celtics: Jamal Murray Unstoppable, Irving Calls For Better Decision Making

The Boston Celtics’ mixed start to the season continued as they fell 115-107 to Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets on Monday night in their second of five games on the road.

The Celtics started the game brightly and were leading by as much as 18 points at one time, but the Nuggets refused to let go and gradually clawed back the deficit as the half wore on.

Kyrie Irving led the way for the Boston franchise with 31 points on the night, but he did not get too much help from the rest of the starters as they combined for just 50 points during the course of the game.

The Celtics are now 6-4 after 10 games in the new season and remain in fourth place in the Eastern Conference and well behind leaders Toronto Raptors, who are 10-1.

Jaylen Brown, who was the next best for the Celtics with 15 points feels that the Celtics offense stopped moving the ball after the first quarter when they outscored the Nuggets 34-19.

“We stopped moving the ball,” Jaylen Brown said after their loss to the Nuggets. “We started settling.”

Irving was not pleased after the game and called on the team to make better decisions with regards to shot making down the stretch. He feels many of the three-point attempts against the Nuggets were forced.

The Nuggets, meanwhile, are off to their best start of the season since the 1976-77 campaign and are now 9-1 for the season. They are currently top of the Western Conference, but could move to second if the Golden State Warriors win their game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night.

The Nuggets win over the Celtics came solely on the back of Murray’s career high 48-point game. The Nuggets point guard shot 19 of 30 during the game, which included 19 points in the fourth quarter. There was no stopping Murray and Celtics coach Brad Stevens also admitted that he “cooked them” despite all their efforts to curtail his shooting.

“We threw the kitchen sink at Jamal Murray tonight in terms of coverages and tactics. But nothing worked. He pretty much cooked us all night,” Stevens said after the game.

The Celtics had a poor game all round compared to the Nuggets except for their first quarter blowout. Coach Stevens’ team shot just 9-for-31 from beyond the arc and just 12 free throws, while Michael Malone’s team were 13-for-38 from distance and bucketed 20 of their 28 from the free throw line.

The Celtics travel to Phoenix for their next game on the road and will be hoping to get back to winning ways, while the Nuggets visit the Grizzlies in Memphis before beginning a four game stretch at home in Denver where they are unbeaten this season.