Their spirit was willing but the depleted Nuggets couldn’t quite hang with the defending NBA champions Celtics Tuesday night at Ball Arena. Playing without center Nikola Jokic, who was scratched before the game with a non-COVID illness,

Tonight will be the first meeting between these two teams this season. Last year, the Nuggets swept the Celtics, and they have their sights set on a repeat of history. The Nuggets have five players listed on the injury report: Aaron Gordon,

The Nuggets were third in the NBA in scoring entering Monday's play, one rung ahead of the Celtics, with an offense not surprisingly built around what star Nikola Jokić does best.