From where the Denver Nuggets began their road trip, the final five games turned out to be a strong reminder of Denver’s talent and grit under pressure.
Against the Boston Celtics, one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, the Nuggets gutted out a 114-110 win headlined by a strong fourth quarter. Denver trailed after the first three quarters before rattling off an impressive 14-0 run in the middle of the fourth. Jamal Murray and Peyton Watson returned to the floor at the 7:45 mark next to Jalen Pickett, Christian Braun, and Zeke Nnaji. From then on, the Nuggets dominated, and the Celtics didn’t score for four minutes in a row.
Denver’s defense against Jaylen Brown in this situation was excellent. The Celtics’ star and MVP ballot candidate had 15 points in the first quarter and looked like he was ready to have a big game. The Nuggets shut that down, especially in the second half with Brown finishing the game with 33 points on 29 shots to go with 4 assists and 7 turnovers. Watson was the primary defender, and Murray often switched onto Brown and did a great job in isolation defense.
Jamal Murray tonight: DISHIN’ & SWISHIN’
22 PTS 17 AST (career-high) DEN W
He is the 1st player since Luka Dončić in 2024 to post consecutive games with 20+ PTS and 15+ AST! pic.twitter.com/bPyn1jauci
— NBA (@NBA) January 8, 2026
On the other end, Murray and Watson were dynamite. Murray had 21 points and a new career-high of 17 assists compared to just 2 turnovers. The Celtics doubled him consistently, and Murray broke down the defense, found the open man consistently, and the Nuggets paid him off with making shots. It’s notable that Murray had 16 assists in his last game and 17 tonight. With teams aggressively attacking him and trying to force others to beat them, Murray is obliging and not trying to be a scoring hero. That’s led to some really impressive passing games.
Watson was one of the main beneficiaries, scoring 30 points on 10-of-15 from the field, 6-of-7 from three, and got to the free throw line eight times. On top of taking on tough defensive assignments, Watson’s leap as a scorer has been extremely impactful. The Nuggets needed that efficiency tonight, and Watson obliged. He also added 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks, filling up the box score in impactful ways.
I think these last few weeks have given Peyton Watson some REALLY, really valuable reps
A pull-up middy of the PnR is a big development. Just thriving in this ball-handling role. pic.twitter.com/bP3FA0d1Db
— Matt Brooks (@MattBrooksNBA) January 8, 2026
Off the bench, Zeke Nnaji was an impactful option with 12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. It wasn’t Nnaji’s most efficient scoring performance, but he made an important three-pointer in the fourth quarter and was fantastic switching onto the perimeter defensively against Boston’s guards and wings. It’s the second straight game in a row where Nnaji has closed at center and directly contributed to a win.
Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun returned to the floor and filled in some minutes for Denver. Braun started once again while Gordon came off the bench. Both were under minutes restrictions, but the Nuggets ran with Braun for the entire fourth quarter in Denver’s important run. He struggled in the first half but found his footing a bit in the second half, hitting a big corner three off a Murray baseline pass. Braun played 30 minutes, which likely exceeded the restriction but showed that he could handle the extended run.
Gordon had 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists in his 23 minutes and made some important shots and had some nice defensive plays, though his consistency on that end of the floor (especially at center) remains hit or miss.
Spencer Jones was having a great first quarter hustling for the Nuggets, but he suffered a foot injury at the end of his stint and was unable to play more than nine minutes. It put the Nuggets in a difficult position with their rotations. Bruce Brown started the second half but struggled. Tim Hardaway Jr. made some valuable shots throughout the night and played hard.
milehighsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Nuggets-win-in-Boston.mp4Neither Hardaway nor Brown closed though. It ended up being Jalen Pickett to go with Murray, Braun, Watson, and Nnaji. The Nuggets found success with that group, and Pickett found offense in the fourth quarter as well. He has While Murray was the primary creator, Pickett still had 7 points and an assist in the fourth quarter, making some important plays to close the game and handling his matchup with players like Payton Pritchard well.
Overall, it was a tremendous win by the Nuggets. Boston was the second seed in the Eastern Conference before tonight’s loss and had won eight of their previous nine games. Denver’s high effort on defense, Murray’s playmaking, Watson’s scoring, and simple poise helped Denver get the job done. Rather than panic, the Nuggets responded in adverse situations with a bunch of threes. Denver shot 20-of-44 from three tonight (45%) which helped counter Boston’s traps against Murray.
To finish this seven-game road trip with a 3-4 record is fairly impressive. After watching Nikola Jokic go down in the second game of the trip, the Nuggets went 3-2, winning games against the current fourth, fifth, and third seeds in the Eastern Conference. Denver had every right to give in at various points, but they dug deep and turned around a difficult situation.
At 25-12, the Nuggets are effectively in a three-way tie for the second seed in the Western Conference. That’s impressive given the 3-4 trip, and the Nuggets can breathe a sigh of relief for a little bit.
That is, until Friday’s game vs the now Trae Young-less Atlanta Hawks.
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