Maybe it's because we're less than a month away from Valentine's Day, or perhaps Kristaps Porzingis was just caught up in the heat of competition, but midway through the 3rd quarter in Friday night's game between the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets, following an ‘and one' finish, Derrick White was treated with a kiss to the top of his head from his Latvian teammate.

This tough lay-in, smooch, and free-throw sequence pushed the Celtics lead to 8, and in the moment, it felt like this was the play that would be the turning point in a game that the Celtics were threatening to blow open from the beginning. You have to give credit to the defending NBA champions, though, because the Nuggets just kept coming.

In the end, Denver eked out a 102-100 win behind a combined 69 points, 20 rebounds, and 14 assists from Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. What the game ultimately came down to was on this night, Denver had the two best players on the floor.

But did the Nuggets have a duo who shared a tender embrace in the middle of the game? No, I don't think so.

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Boston had won 20 consecutive home games to begin the season, the longest streak in team history, and the Celts had their sights on breaking the NBA record, owned by the 1985-86 Boston Celtics, for best home record in a single season. The 85-86 Celts went 40-1 in the regular season at the Boston Garden, and tacked on a perfect 10-0 record in the postseason on their way to an NBA title. Even with this loss, Boston could still tie this all-time mark if they run the table the rest of the way, and as we learned even in defeat, there's certainly enough love in the Celtics locker room to fuel their season that direction moving forward.