The Boston Celtics travel to Colorado to face the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center on Friday.

The Celtics (11-3) come into this matchup losing two of their last three games which actually snapped an NBA-best 10-game winning streak. It's not like the losses were anything to worry about either, with both games being decided on the final shot. They were also both road games in the midst of this West Coast road trip, making the losses look even more tolerable. The thing that's changed with this team is their chemistry. Getting Kyrie Irving out of the picture has seemingly opened up the door for everyone else to succeed and that's become a huge factor this season with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward all having bounceback seasons. If they can continue to get those three to play like this while Kemba Walker performs at an All-Star level, this will be a team to fear all season long.

The Nuggets (10-3) haven't been playing their best basketball by their own admission but that's an extremely encouraging sign with Denver posting one of the best records in the NBA despite the "struggles". That says a lot about this team, as their defense has truly turned elite. In fact, the 102.3 points allowed per game by Denver is the third-best mark in the NBA. What is bizarre is the fact that their offense continues to lack, sitting right in the middle of the pack. That's strange to see from a team that traditionally sits Top-5 but their pace is surely a major reason why. The Nuggets are actually one of the five-slowest teams in the league and that's a rare sight from a team that usually uses altitude to their favor, running at will. One has to wonder if this is the correct recipe going forward and it'll be interesting to see if this slow pace continues to pay dividends going forward.

Denver swept the two-game season series over Boston last year. The Celtics actually swept the 2017-18 series too.