BOSTON -- Brad Stevens was relieved his Boston Celtics shot a season-high 59.5 percent from the floor at TD Garden on Wednesday night.

"That was the only way we were going to win tonight the way we were guarding and rebounding," the coach said after the Celtics also registered a season high for points in a 124-118 victory over the Denver Nuggets.

The 118 points tied the most Boston has allowed this season and the Celtics were out-rebounded 48-30, with the Nuggets hauling down 20 offensive boards.

But the offense was superb.

"That was probably one of our best shot-selection games," Stevens said.

Kyrie Irving, returning from a one-game absence caused by a quad bruise, scored 33 points and Jaylen Brown had 26, one off his career and season highs in the win, which followed the team's worst effort of the year in Monday night's loss at Chicago.

"It's always something that you want to build towards as a team, being able to respond and come out, especially on our home floor, and compete," Irving said after the Celtics improved to 24-6. "We started off the game, they were really comfortable, we weren't getting stops the way we wanted to. They were in a great rhythm and we just had to be resilient practically the whole night and just kind of weather their storms.

"They kept coming and kept coming and we had to outscore them at some points because some of those guys got hot and they had some offensive boards but we were pretty resilient tonight."

The Nuggets (15-13) hit their first six shots and had a seven-point first-quarter lead but the Celtics overcame a career-high 36 points by Gary Harris and 28 by Jamal Murray to win a battle between teams hit by the injury bug.

The Nuggets, finishing 2-4 on a six-game road trip, came in with four players averaging between 15.1 and 15.6 points per game and were missing three of them. Paul Millsap (wrist), Nikola Jokic (ankle) and Will Barton (back) are averaging a combined 46.4 points, 22.1 rebounds and 11.2 assists. Harris was the fourth.

The Celtics, who lost Gordon Hayward in the opening game, were resting Al Horford (knee), while Marcus Morris (knee) is expected to be out for weeks.

Irving, who went 12-for-19 from the floor and 4-for-9 from 3-point range, dished out seven assists. Aron Baynes scored 17 points, Jayson Tatum had 15 and Shane Larkin added 14 in 17 1/2 minutes. Larkin was 6 of 6 from the floor and 2 of 2 from 3-point range, the first perfect shooting game of his career with at least six baskets.

Larkin scored nine points in a 2:36 span of the second quarter and had five points, a steal and a block during a 9-0 run that broke things open early in the fourth. He was a plus-14.

"At this point in the season I know when I'm going to go in there and I just have to provide that spark," Larkin said. "That's been my job so far this season, just to go in there, play hard on the defensive end and just take what they give me offensively and tonight I had my shot going early."

Said Stevens: "I felt like Shane's pressure kind of turned the game for us. He made it a little bit tougher for them to get into their stuff. Every action started a little bit higher because he was pressuring the ball."

Brown and Tatum combined to hit 15 of their 21 shots, also nailing four of their five 3-ppint attempts.

Harris and Murray combined for 42 shots, making 25.

"Heart, effort, hustle, determination; I saw that from most of our guys in the starting lineup," Denver coach Michael Malone said. "I thought Jamal Murray goes out and gets 10 rebounds as a point guard. I was really proud of our guys in this regard."'

But Murray, talking about Irving, said, "He's a great player and today he got the best of me."

Mason Plumlee scored 15 points and Wilson Chandler 14 for the Nuggets.

Marcus Smart had nine assists for Boston. Murray and reserve Kenneth Faried each recorded 10 rebounds for Denver.

NOTES: Boston F Gordon Hayward, who sustained a broken left tibia and dislocated ankle in the season opener, discarded his walking boot Wednesday and will stay out of it depending on how his foot responds. "Today has been awesome without the boot," he said. He is slated to miss the rest of the season, but there has been talk of a late-season return. ... Denver F Will Barton, who bruised his lower back in Detroit on Tuesday night, did not play Wednesday. ... The Nuggets go home to meet the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday but then have three of their next four on the road. The Celtics host the Utah Jazz on Friday and visit the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night, completing a stretch of five games in seven nights.