BSJ Live Coverage: Celtics at Nuggets 10:00 p.m. - A shot at an undefeated West Coast road trip

BOSTON CELTICS (38-19) at DENVER NUGGETS (36-22)

Location: Ball Arena, Denver, Colo.

Game time: 10:00 p.m.

TV: ESPN

Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub

Celtics injury report:

• Max Shulga - OUT (G League, two-way)

• Jayson Tatum - OUT (right Achilles repair)

• Amari Williams - DOUBTFUL (G League, on assignment)

Nuggets injury report:

• Tamar Bates - OUT (left foot surgery)

• Aaron Gordon - OUT (right hamstring strain)

• Curtis Jones - OUT (G League, two-way)

• Jamal Murray - PROBABLE (right hamstring tightness)

• Jalen Pickett - OUT (right knee soreness)

• Julian Strawther - PROBABLE (left great toe sprain)

• Peyton Watson - OUT - (right hamstring strain)

What to watch for: On one side, there’s the Boston Celtics. One of the hottest teams in the NBA looking to escape their West Coast swing with a 4-0 record.

On the other, the Denver Nuggets. A top-three seed in the Western Conference looking to regain their rhythm amidst a rough patch.

Tale of the tape: Back on January 7, with Nikola Jokic out of the lineup, the Nuggets came to Boston and took down the Celtics.

Peyton Watson’s 30 points on 6-of-7 shooting from long range were crucial, but Jamal Murray’s career-high 17 assists led the way. Boston sent extra pressure at him, and he made the right play almost every single time. 

Last game: The Celtics will be taking on the Nuggets on the second night of a road back-to-back. They were in Arizona on Tuesday night, and they pulverized the Phoenix Suns.

Derrick White’s 18 first-half points led the way, and Baylor Scheierman and Ron Harper Jr. both provided solid contributions on the defensive end.

Standings check-in: With their win in Phoenix and the New York Knicks’ loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Celtics are now two games up on the Knicks. Cleveland is now effectively tied with New York for third in the East.

Meanwhile, the Celtics are slowly inching their way closer to the top seed, though they are still 4.5 games back of the first-place Detroit Pistons.

Nuggets check-in: Denver hasn’t been playing very well lately.

They were on a roll while Jokic was out, scrapping together wins, but now, they are just 4-6 in their last 10 games.

Jokic has been playing well, averaging 26.0 points, 13.7 rebounds, and 9.1 assists in his last 10 games. And as usual, Murray has been right there with him, putting up 23.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 8.0 assists in his last 10.

Tim Hardaway Jr. has been red-hot from distance. In his last 10 games, he’s averaging 13.5 points on 41.7% shooting while attempting 6.0 three-point attempts per contest.

Julian Strawther is also shooting well. In his last 10, he’s shooitng 42.6% on 4.7 attempts per game. 

One fun play: Scheierman didn’t get any credit for this play in the box score. No offensive rebound. Nothing. But he made this happen.

He crashed hard from the corner, tipped the ball to Harper, who scored the bucket. Elite hustle.