"I think for any player, you never want to be that guy that teams are targeting," Michael Malone said. The post Celtics’ strategy against Nuggets star could be taken as ‘sign of disrespect’, coach says appeared first on Boston.

Boston ruled out starters Jrue Holiday (mallet finger) and Kristaps Porzingis (illness) for Sunday’s matchup with the Denver Nuggets at TD Garden. Holiday and Porzingis also did not play in Friday night’s 123-116 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Jaylen Brown scored 22 points and Derek White hit a floater from the foul line with less than a minute left to help the Boston Celtics recover after blowing most of a 20-point first-half lead and beat the Denver Nuggets 110-103.

The Boston Celtics avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season on Sunday, thanks in large part to a vintage performance by Al Horford.

Boston's victory broke a two-game losing streak in which they lost by 20 to the Detroit Pistons and blew a 22-point lead to the Cavaliers. They improved to 43-18 and maintain a strong hold on the East's No. 2 seed. The Celtics are off until Wednesday when they host the Portland Trail Blazers (27-33).