BOSTON — About 90 minutes before the finale of Denver’s six-game road trip against the Celtics, coach Michael Malone stressed the Nuggets would be facing one of the NBA’s best teams, with one of its best players, in one of its best environments. Malone hoped his team would not “exhale” following a tenacious defensive effort in a win at Detroit the previous night. The Nuggets hung around for the bulk of Wednesday’s contest at TD Garden.