On January 8, 2025, Beijing time, the 20-win and 14-loss Nuggets hosted the 26-win and 10-loss Celtics. The Nuggets were without Jokic due to illness and Gordon continued to be absent due to injury. On paper, the Celtics had a huge advantage. The Celtics lost their last game to the Thunder and were eager to bounce back strongly. Could the Celtics seize this opportunity? White was absent for the Celtics, with the starting lineup being Holiday, Brown, Tatum, Horford, and Porzingis. The Nuggets' starting lineup was Westbrook, Murray, Braun, Porter, and Saric.
In the first quarter, Porzingis made a mid-range shot, while Murray and Porter responded with three-pointers, giving the Nuggets a 6-2 lead. Porzingis and Horford then hit three-pointers to overtake by 2 points. Porter and Westbrook hit three-pointers, but Porzingis, Holiday, and Tatum responded, putting the Celtics up by 4 points. After a timeout, Westbrook hit another three-pointer, but Horford responded with a three-pointer of his own. Porter and Murray scored, but Tatum and Porzingis responded, keeping the gap at 4 points. Murray made two free throws, but Tatum and Pritchard continued to score, extending the lead to 10 points. Strus and Watson scored, but Porzingis and Tatum responded, maintaining a 12-point lead at the end of the first quarter. Porzingis scored 15 points in the first quarter, setting a personal record for most points in a single quarter this season.
In the second quarter, Kanter made a layup, extending the Celtics' lead to 14 points. Watson hit a three-pointer, and Porzingis made one of two free throws plus Hauser's three-pointer, making the gap 15 points. After a timeout, Strus and Westbrook narrowed the gap to 7 points. Keta made a layup, followed by Watson and Strus scoring 5 points, reducing the gap to 4 points. Keta and Tatum extended the lead to 8 points, but Murray scored consecutively, narrowing the gap to 2 points. Holiday and Brown scored, but Westbrook and Watson caught up, leveling the score at halftime, 57-57.
In the third quarter, Braun made a layup, giving the Nuggets a 2-point lead. Brown scored 4 consecutive points, and Porter dunked, leveling the score. Tatum, Holiday, Brown, and Porzingis scored, but Westbrook hit a three-pointer and Braun scored 5 points, leveling the score again. Porzingis, Brown, and Tatum extended the lead to 6 points, but Strus made a layup. Tatum responded with a layup, keeping the gap at 6 points. Westbrook hit a three-pointer and Porter made a layup, but Hauser and Tatum hit two consecutive three-pointers, extending the lead to 7 points. Strus and Watson narrowed the gap to 3 points, but Porzingis made two free throws, ending the third quarter with the Celtics leading 88-83.
In the fourth quarter, Murray and Strus scored 5 points to level the score. Hauser hit a three-pointer, followed by Braun's layup and Brown's jump shot. Braun then hit a three-pointer, leveling the score. Porzingis, Holiday, Brown, Horford, and Tatum went on a 12-0 run to stop the Nuggets. After a timeout, Tatum made three free throws, extending the lead to 15 points. Westbrook scored 5 points alone, and Strus made an alley-oop dunk, reducing the gap to 8 points. Tatum made a mid-range shot, but Murray responded with a mid-range shot, keeping the gap at 8 points. Holiday and Tatum extended the lead to 13 points. Westbrook and Watson scored, but Holiday hit a three-pointer, maintaining a 12-point lead with 48 seconds left in the game. There were no more scores in the remaining time, and the Celtics defeated the Nuggets 118-106.
Tatum scored 29 points with 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 blocks on 11 of 23 shooting. Porzingis scored 25 points with 11 rebounds and 3 assists on 9 of 18 shooting, achieving his first 20+10 record this season. Brown scored 14 points with 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Holiday scored 19 points with 3 rebounds and 7 assists. Horford scored 9 points with 7 rebounds and 4 steals, setting a personal record for steals this season.
Westbrook scored 26 points with 9 rebounds and 6 assists on 9 of 18 shooting (4 of 9 from three-point range). Murray scored 19 points with 4 rebounds and 4 assists on 8 of 17 shooting. Porter scored 15 points with 10 rebounds and 3 assists. Strus scored 19 points with 2 rebounds. Watson scored 14 points with 4 rebounds and 4 blocks. Braun scored 12 points with 4 rebounds.
Although the Celtics defeated the Nuggets, they did not show the expected dominance against a Nuggets team missing Jokic and Gordon. Combined with their loss to the Thunder in the previous game, it can be seen that the Celtics' strength has declined compared to last season. The Cavaliers have won both games against the Nuggets with Jokic this season, and their current record is far ahead of the Celtics. Currently, the Cavaliers seem to have stronger strength than the Celtics, changing the league landscape.