Nuggets vs. Celtics: 3 takeaways from Denver's preseason opener in Abu Dhabi

The last two teams to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy kicked off the preseason Friday morning in Abu Dhabi. Here are three takeaways from Denver’s 107-103 loss to Boston:

Rotation watch

Both teams played their expected starters for most of the first half, though Boston was without Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford.

For Denver, that meant Christian Braun starting alongside Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic. A few impressive defensive possessions from Braun on the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown should ease any concerns about Braun’s capability of providing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's defensive impact. The starters led Denver to a 63-56 halftime advantage before watching the remainder of the game from the bench.

Jokic led Denver’s starters with 14 points, eight rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes. Porter added 12 points on eight shots

The Nuggets used a 10-man rotation before halftime. With Peyton Watson dealing with a hamstring injury, the second unit featured Russell Westbrook surrounded by shooters Julian Strawther, Vlatko Cancar, Hunter Tyson and Dario Saric. That group, with DeAndre Jordan replacing Cancar, started the second half, as both teams rested their starters.

Cancar slotted into the third unit for the second half, joining Jalen Pickett, two-way players Spencer Jones and Trey Alexander and Jordan. Boston’s reserves got the better of Denver’s in the third quarter, making it a one-point game to start the fourth, and completed the comeback in the final quarter behind Payton Pritchard’s game-high 21 points.

Welcome, Westbrook

Westbrook’s debut in a Denver uniform was mostly positive.

He made only three of 10 field-goal attempts, but the shots he made were encouraging. A 30% 3-point shooter over his first 16 NBA seasons, Westbrook went 3 of 6 from 3-point range and 3 of 4 at the line to lead Denver’s reserves with 12 points in 19 minutes. He also dished out a game-high eight assists against two turnovers and grabbed four rebounds.

Though he didn’t score inside the arc, Westbrook’s ability to drive and collapse the defense led to easy shots on the perimeter for shooters, while Jordan’s lone bucket came off a sweet pass from Westbrook after the point guard attracted a couple of defenders around the rim.

Even if the efficient 3-point shooting isn’t sustainable, Westbrook still has enough juice to make life easier on the rest of the unit, whoever that ends up being to start the regular season.

Numbers game

It was just one preseason game where the starters didn’t play in the second half, but Boston nearly doubled Denver’s 3-point attempts.

The Celtics attempted 61 3s in 48 minutes. Denver took 32. Even though Denver shot a better percentage, 37.5% to Boston’s 32.8%, the Celtics outscored the Nuggets by 24 points off 3s.

It was a continuation of last season’s trends. The Celtics led the NBA with 42 attempted 3s per game last season. Denver ranked 29th out of 30 teams, taking 31.3 per game.

Pritchard, who finished 6 for 12 to lead Boston, was a big reason why. Jayson Tatum hit three more and led the Celtics’ starters with 12 points.

Westbrook (3-6) and Hunter Tyson (2-3) were the only Nuggets to make multiple 3s. Gordon led Denver’s starters with four attempted 3s, making one, while Porter and Murray each went 1 for 3.

As good as the Nuggets are inside the arc, Denver’s margin for error gets significantly smaller when other teams can use a 3-point advantage to keep up.