After getting off to the best start at home in franchise history, the Boston Celtics finally dropped a game at TD Garden on Friday night. The Denver Nuggets, who won their first NBA title in franchise history last season, came into Beantown and narrowly defeated the C's 102-100.

The Celtics had a chance to keep their perfect home record alive in the fourth quarter, yet the Nuggets outplayed them down the stretch. Following a rare jump ball with 17 seconds remaining, Boston won the tip and quickly called a timeout.

Out of the break, Boston moved the ball around yet couldn't find any real opening. Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla stopped the stagnation with another timeout with just 4.2 seconds left in the game and the score 102-100 in the Nuggets' favor.

Star Jayson Tatum then got a chance to tie it up for Boston, however, Denver's strong defense and the waning clock resulted in a tough fadeaway miss.

After the close loss, Tatum told the media what went wrong with his potential game-tying jumper, per CelticsBlog reporter Jack Simone.

“Yeah, I think I kind of rushed it. And that's one me,” he admitted. “In the back of my mind, I wasn't sure if they were going to foul. They had a foul to give. I had more time than I gave myself. So, I should have took some more time. But you can't go back. So, it's something I can learn from.”

Tatum and fellow Celtics star Jaylen Brown combined for 43 points, but it wasn't enough to stop Denver's dynamic duo. 2023 champions Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray scored 69 points altogether and demonstrated why they're one of the best tandems in the league.

The C's fell to 20-1 at home yet are still an NBA-best 32-10 overall. In games decided by five points or less, Boston is now 3-2. If the Green Team is hoping to dethrone the Nuggets this season, they'll need to learn from this defeat and perfect their late-game execution.