Preview: Boston Celtics vs Denver Nuggets

The Boston Celtics have been shooting up the standings recently. They have won their last three games, two in blowouts, and are currently sitting fifth in the Eastern Conference at 25-21. Boston’s schedule is favorable leading up to the All-Star break which could put them in great position to climb even further up the standings.

The same cannot be said about the Denver Nuggets this season. At 17-28, the Nuggets are seemingly out of the playoff race and looking toward the upcoming draft. They have lost four of their past six games and don’t seem to have much of an identity on offense.

The Celtics return home after two games on the road, on the snowy East coast. Boston’s defense returned to form during their past three games. They have only allowed 101, 92, and 91 points during their wins. They are also coming off a game in which they shut down John Wall. It’s likely that the good defense will continue Wednesday night because Denver is near the bottom of the league in both points per game (99.7 points per game) and field goal percentage (43.2 percent).

The most intriguing match-up to watch is between Jae Crowder and Danilo Gallinari. Boston, and now the whole league, knows how effective Crowder is on defense. Although, he will have his hands full with Gallinari on Wednesday. Gallinari leads the team with 19.2 points per game but doesn’t shoot the ball particularly well. He has only shot 40.4 percent from the field this season, but does shoot a respectable 35.8 percent from behind the arc. Crowder has his hands full every night so I expect him to be up for the challenge.

The X-Factor in this game is Marcus Smart. The Nuggets’ first round pick point guard, Emmanuel Mudiay, is 6’5 and will have Avery Bradley and most likely Marcus Smart guard him. Mudiay has great size for a point guard and as a result Isaiah Thomas won’t see much time guarding him. He has struggled this season however with protecting the ball. Mudiay turns the ball over 3.7 times a game, which is sixth in the NBA. Smart and Bradley need to constantly pressure the ball to try to make the young point guard make mistakes.

Smart has made huge strides, offensively, as of late. He has scored in double figures in five of the team’s past seven games; that includes a 20 point game against the Dallas Mavericks in which he shot 8-13 from the field. He has worked hard on his jump shot and it has shown, although, there’s no question it still has a lot of room for improvement. If Smart’s offense can continue to grow, along with the defensive intensity he brings every night, he will continue to see more minutes.

It seemed like the rotation for the Celtics was starting to solidify but Tyler Zeller has started to get playing time in the past couple of games. This may be a result of Amir Johnson‘s poor play, but either way it seems like Brad Stevens is continuing to use as many front court players as he can.

Next: Jonas Jerebko is Finally Where he Needs to Be

The Denver Nuggets aren’t in the bottom tier of teams but they’re close. Denver has some young and talented pieces to work with but they’re careless with the ball and aren’t a great defensive team, despite having Kenneth Faried. They are a couple of years away and this year their main focus is on getting the best draft pick possible.

With the Celtics returning home this is more than a winnable game. Boston has not been able to put together a four game winning streak since late December but that should change soon. There is a chance that the Celtics will have a third straight blowout win.