A beautiful block on Gordon Hayward, Boston’s 13th of the game, by Avery Bradley sealed the deal tonight as Boston beats Utah 100-95. Boston has now won 11 straight at home.
From the get go, it appeared Boston might be in for another long night against the Jazz. Utah scored 20 of their 29 first quarter points in the paint. Newcomer Shelvin Mack also got involved and would key a Utah run later in the game. Isaiah Thomas struggled a bit again this evening, taking 10 first quarter shots to tally 8 points. He was 0 of 3 from downtown to start the night. Crowder & Bradley were both huge in this game and paced the C’s early with a combined 11 1st quarter points.
Despite only mustering 20 second quarter points, Boston played some great ball in quarter number two-mainly on defense. The C’s held Utah to just 17 points on 8 of 29 shooting. Brad Stevens tossed Jordan Mickey into the mix with hopes of him slowing down the Jazz. Well it worked. In 7 minutes of play, Mickey had 2 blocks & 2 rebounds and played some fantastic defense. Evan Turner had a solid stint off the bench, and the Celts were down just three, 46-43 at the half.
The 3rd quarter was an evenly played 12 minutes. Boston had a balanced attack, with seven different players scoring. Led by Marcus Smart & Jae Crowder, the Celts were aggressive on the offensive end, attempting 16 3rd quarter free throws. Meanwhile, Raul Neto, who hurt Boston badly in the Jazz’ win in Utah, started to get hot and I started screaming at the tv. The Jazz went into the final quarter up 73-72.
Boston did exactly what they do best in the 4th-they played great defense. The Celts held the Jazz to just 5 points in the final two minutes. After Shelvin Mack (10 4th Q points) nailed a three with 0:49 left, Jae Crowder buried one of his own. Boston was up 96-95 with 0:30 left. Utah got the ball to Gordon Hayward in the corner with about 30 seconds left, and Avery Bradley rose up and got a beautiful block to deny Hayward’s jumper. After some Bradley free-throws and a huge rebound by Amir Johnson, the C’s got a triumphant win, and revenge, against the Jazz. Before the game, Celtics players made it clear that Utah’s 111-93 drubbing of Boston was still very fresh in their minds.
The Celts are now off until Wednesday when they face the Blazers at the Garden. Tip-off is at 7:30pm EST.
The Green:
- Avery Bradley comes through with one of his signature game saving defensive plays tonight. He finished with 18 points (9 in the 4th), 1 huge block & 1 steal
- Jaesus saved once again tonight. Crowder’s trey in the final minute was clutch, and he led all scorers with 22 points & also had 2 steals, 4 assists & 3 rebounds
- IT had 18 points & 9 assists
- Sully’s stats don’t jump out at you, but he (and Amir) helped in limiting Favors to just 5 of 15 shooting tonight & he grabbed 9 boards
The Gross:
- Celts missed 9 free-throws
The Greenlights:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpA2LX0JXTw]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6kCko5WGUs]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJB7kxkIFZ0]
The Grid (quick stats)
- Rebounds: UTA 52 BOS 47
Celtics with 13 blocks, the most for Boston since Feb. 2009.
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) March 1, 2016
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