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Celtics seek road redemption in Denver

Jan 7, 2014 - 3:20 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The road has been the one less traveled by the Boston Celtics, as they continue a five-game western jaunt Tuesday against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center.

The Celtics opened the trek with Sunday's 119-96 defeat at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder and have now lost four in a row on the road and four straight overall. Jeff Green and Avery Bradley had 19 points apiece for Boston, which is 1-7 in its last eight games.

Boston was down early and often, and trailed 34-26 after the first 12 minutes. It made it interesting heading into halftime, but the Thunder were too much in the second half and Reggie Jackson scored a career-high 27 points. Kevin Durant netted 21 points in the win.

"We didn't help each other on defense very often," said Celtics coach Brad Stevens. "When things are going well, we're not bad, but when things don't go well we haven't responded well lately."

Jordan Crawford added 17 points and Kris Humphries posted 14. The Celtics will also visit the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State and Portland, and are 5-11 outside of TD Garden this season.

Boston is rumored to trade Courtney Lee to Memphis for Jerryd Bayless. Ryan Gomes is reportedly in the mix, too.

Denver appears to have turned the corner with back-to-back wins since a season-high eight-game losing streak and recorded a convincing 137-115 blowout victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

The Nuggets set or tied season-highs in points (137), assists (32), rebounds (58) and steals (12), and were guided by Nate Robinson's 21 points off the bench. Ty Lawson added 20 points and dished 12 assists, Timofey Mozgov also scored 20 points and both Wilson Chandler and Kenneth Faried netted 17 points in the win.

Denver shot 53.5 percent and scored 30-plus points in each of the last three quarters. The Nuggets outscored the Lakers, 77-54, over the last two periods to halt a three-game road losing streak.

"It's only a two-game win streak but it's night and day from what it was," Nuggets head coach Brian Shaw said.

Shaw's squad will also host Oklahoma City and Orlando on this current homestand and is 8-8 in the Mile High City. The Nuggets, however, have dropped five of the last six games at home.

In other Nuggets news, the team is still reportedly ready to trade veteran guard Andre Miller, who has had clashes with his coach.

The Nuggets lost to the Celtics, 106-98, on Dec. 6 in Beantown, as Crawford led all scorers with 22 points and Lawson notched 20 in defeat. The Celtics are winless in four straight and nine of 11 trips to Denver.