The Denver Nuggets (25-20) grabbed their first win without C Nene, beating the Boston Celtics (23-21) in a 98-91 win.
F Kenneth Faried proved perfect from the free throw line with an 8 for 8 effort, proved dominant on the paint with 16 rebounds and proved dangerous on offense with 18 points. SG Arron Afflalo (15 PTS), SF Danilo Gallinari (20 PTS) and PF Al Harrington (11 PTS) all crossed in double digits for the Nuggets as well as the Denver offense shot for a combined 45.9 percentage.
As a whole, the team out-rebounded the Celtics with 46 boards to the Nuggets' 27 in an otherwise sloppy contest featuring a combined 35 turnovers. The Nuggets had a 14-point lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but the Celtics staged a furious comeback and were able to bring the game to 94-91 with under a minute remaining. Steady free throw shooting from Faried and PG Ty Lawson sealed it, though, and Denver won 98-91.
The Nuggets will be back in action on Monday evening, hosting the Dallas Mavericks at the Pepsi Center.
For analysis, news and info on these two teams, visit Celtics Blog and Nuggets blog Denver Stiffs. For more updates, stay with SB Nation Denver. For news and notes around the league, head over to SB Nation's NBA news hub.