The Celtics entered Wednesday's matchup against the Denver Nuggets having won an NBA best 18 out of their last 23 outings, before a 114-110 defeat at TD Garden to snap a four-game win streak.
While there were some bright spots such as Jaylen Brown scoring 33 points on 14-of-29 shooting, including going 4-of-6 from 3-point range and Neemias Queta grabbing 20 rebounds -- which 10 of them came on the offensive glass, becoming the first Celtic to accomplish that feat since Robert Parish in 1989 -- Brown hinted that inconsistent officiating may have attributed to Boston's first loss of 2026.
On a night where Brown drove to the rim and absorbed plenty of contact nearly every time in the lane, he attempted only three free throws when his season average is currently at 7.3 per game -- 10th in the league when it comes to that category.
"For me, every time I get the ball, I'm looking to be aggressive -- if I feel contact, I'm gonna go through it,”" Brown said in his postgame comments. "I'm gonna go strong. But tonight, I just was getting blank faces when I was asking officials [about calls]."
Still, coming off a December when Brown was getting to the charity stripe an average of 8.7 times per contest, he felt like calls weren't being made that usually are especially over the last month.
"I normally get to my spots and go up and be physical and go to the basket, and I draw a lot of contact," Brown said. "[I'm] one of the more aggressive players in the league, I drive a lot, you know? And, the whistle didn't equate to that. Maybe they wanted to make an emphasis, I don't know. But I'll adjust for the next game and see how the game is being called. Because if you don't get some of those calls, and they look like bad shots, it kind of snowballs on defense."
The Nuggets forced nine of Boston's 14 total turnovers in the second half -- which was way above the team's season average of 11.2, the lowest in the league. Denver was called for 15 fouls to the Celtics' 20.
"They were physical," Brown said. "They got away with a lot. The refs allowed them to get away with a lot."
Brown took responsibility for letting the officials impact him, after committing three of his seven total turnovers and three fouls in the final seven minutes. The Nuggets went on 14-0 spurt midway through the final frame, which proved to be the game-winning run that Boston never recovered, as they played from behind the rest of the way.
"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," he said.
Meanwhile, according to C's coach Joe Mazzulla, the Celtics failed to convert shots on offense, especially during Denver's fourth quarter run, while the Nuggets also hit 20-of-44 on 3-pointers, shooting 45.5% on the night and they had 27 assists on 39 made baskets to Boston's 16 dimes on 43 shots.
"We had some empty possessions on offense, and they did a good job versus our aggressive pick-and-roll coverage, finding the two-on-one, whether it was knocking down threes or hitting the roll man," Mazzulla told reporters.
Despite the Celtics' 17-4 late-game rally, ultimately their 14 turnovers (five alone in the fourth period) and 15 of the 16 second chance points by Denver came via a C's turnover, led to an impressive 17-assist night for Jamal Maury (22 points, eight rebounds) -- who was two rebounds away from a triple-double.
"They play well," Brown said. "When a team plays like that, they're tough to beat. We still had a chance to win the game. Just a few possessions, offensively and defensively, that we just got to be sharper, but any given night teams can get hot like that."
The Nuggets, who were were without their superstar Nikola Jokic, found themselves balanced on the offensive end much like the Celtics have this season without Jayson Tatum. Denver won the battle of points off the bench, outscoring the home team 49-31 with Peyton Watson leading the way with 30.
"Tonight was a tale of two," Mazzulla said. "Murray -- you've got to give him credit -- he played really well, but he also had 17 assists versus the pick-and-roll, versus the aggressive coverages. So there are obviously possessions that we'll get better at with our shifts and our rotations, but you've got to give credit to them. It was a two-on-one for the majority of the game, and they took advantage of that."
The Celtics will host the Toronto Raptors (23-15) and the San Antonio Spurs (26-11) on back-to-back nights beginning on Friday at home.
Joel Pavón
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