The Boston Celtics defeated the Utah Jazz on Monday to extend their home winning streak.
The two youngest teams in the NBA met on Monday night for the last time this season. The Boston Celtics visited the Utah Jazz just 10 days ago and played one of their worst games in recent memory. The third place Celtics looked to feed off the home crowd in Monday’s rematch with the ninth place Jazz. Both teams are jockeying for playoff positioning, although the Celtics have seemingly carved out their third place spot. Utah, however, sits just a half a game behind the Houston Rockets for the eighth and final spot in the West.
Monday’s game at TD Garden began in similar fashion to the win on Saturday against the Miami Heat. The Celtics’ starters made a few early shots, but were largely unable to impose their will upon the visiting Jazz. The Jazz rank 26th in the NBA in scoring, but the Celtics inefficient offense allowed the Western Conference playoff contenders to build an early lead.
Early in the game it was apparent that the Jazz had a huge advantage over the Celtics in the rebounding department. The star of the two teams’ last meeting, Derrick Favors, looked active on the boards in the first quarter and looked to be on double-double pace. Utah center, 7′ 1″ Rudy Gobert also caused problems for the Celtics big men, scoring and rebounding at will.
The Celtics problems early in the game partially came as a result of settling for too many tough jump shots. Boston was unable to get easy points, and the Jazz’ prolific rebounding afforded their offense extra opportunities to score. The story of the first quarter against the Heat looked to be repeating itself as coach Brad Stevens looked to his bench, specifically Evan Turner, for a spark. However, it was a Jazz rookie reserve out of Kentucky who stood out amongst the second teams. Utah forward Trey Lyles scored 10 straight points spanning the end of the first and beginning of the second quarters, helping the visitors to an eventual 13-point lead.
Utah’s rookie forward was not the only first year player to stand out on Monday night. Celtics’ rookie Jordan Mickey provided some much needed energy for the home team. In just seven minutes the LSU product scored three points, gobbled three rebounds and recorded two impressive rejections. The defensive efforts of Mickey and teammate Marcus Smart led to 12 straight missed shots from the Jazz in the midst of an 11-0 run by the Celtics.
As the clock winded down, Celtics leading scorer Isaiah Thomas made a cutting layup to bring the Jazz halftime lead to 46-43. After being out-rebounded by 10 and taking 10 fewer shots than the Jazz in the first half, the Celtics and coach Brad Stevens surely felt fortunate to go into the locker room with such a manageable deficit.
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Just as they did on Saturday, the Celtics starters had much more energy in the third quarter. All five starters contributed to the Celtics third quarter scoring, but they were not able to take the lead as the Jazz were able to trade baskets throughout the period. The Celtics stepped up the effort on the glass and actually out-rebounded the Jazz in the third quarter. The Celtics trailed by a score of 73-72 going into the final period.
The Celtics finally regained the lead when Evan Turner hit Tyler Zeller with a beautiful pass and layup. The perfectly executed fast break woke up the TD Garden crowd, which in turn inspired the Celtics to lock down on defense. Both teams experienced some difficulty scoring for the first half of the fourth quarter, and the score was tied at the six minute mark.
Normally the final minutes of games are “Isaiah Thomas time”, but Brad Stevens saw two very familiar faces score down the stretch for the opposition. Utah starters, and former Butler University standouts, Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack combined for 34 points and each scored effectively in the waning minutes to give the Jazz a late lead. It must have been a bittersweet feeling for Stevens, who spent seven seasons as Butler’s head coach and relied on Hayward and Mack to take his team to two straight National Championship games.
After a Shelvin Mack three gave the Jazz the lead, the Celtics put the game in their most dependable players’ hands. In the final minute, Isaiah Thomas found Jae Crowder for an open triple to give the Celtics the lead. On the ensuing possession, the Jazz went to their leader, Hayward for the most important shot of the night. As Hayward rose from 15 feet for the potential lead, defensive specialist, Avery Bradley came up with the play of the night with a timely rejection. The Celtics took a three point lead after Utah’s intention foul, and shut down the Jazz for the rest of the game on the way to a 100-95 win.
Despite a terrible first half on both sides of the ball, the Celtics were able to climb back in the game and get yet another gutsy win at TD Garden. Jae Crowder led the way for the Celtics with 22 points, while the back court of Avery Bradley and Isaiah Thomas both added 18. Thomas was one assist shy of his eighth double-double. Although he did not post any gaudy statistics, Tyler Zeller provided the Celtics with timely baskets and rebounds in the second half.
Utah had six players in double figures, including all five starters. Derrick Favors recorded 11 points and 16 rebounds, while Rudy Gobert added 12 points to go along with 12 rebounds in the losing effort. The Jazz were surprisingly led by Shelvin Mack and Trey Lyles, who both scored 18 points.
Monday’s game marks the third straight win for the Celtics and the 11th straight win at home. The 11 game run is the third longest current streak in the NBA, trailing only the world beating Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs.
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After the 3-0 start to the home stand, the Celtics will try to continue their winning ways against the hottest team in the NBA, the Portland Trailblazers. Game time is set for 7:30PM on Wednesday at TD Garden.