Post Game - Celtics vs. Jazz - Friday, January 05 (W)

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401585107

Celtics-Jazz takeaways: C's elite defense on display in blowout win

https://sports.yahoo.com/celtics-jazz-takeaways-cs-elite-024119860.html

Justin Leger
Fri, Jan 5, 2024, 9:41 PM EST·4 min read




Celtics-Jazz takeaways: C's elite defense on display in blowout win originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Three Key Storylines

C's dominate on D
Jayson Tatum takes over
Well-rested for Indiana

The Boston Celtics remain unbeaten at home after a lopsided win over the Utah Jazz.

It didn't take long for Friday night's showdown at TD Garden to turn into a rout. The C's began the game on a 10-0 run with all five of their starters scoring before a single Jazz starter did. Utah shot 0-for-9 from the floor to start and finished the first quarter with just 15 points on 18.5 percent shooting (5-for-27).

From there, the Celtics cruised to a 126-97 bounce-back victory led by Jayson Tatum's 30-point outburst. Each of their starters scored in double figures, as did Sam Hauser (13 points) off the bench. Boston has now scored at least 120 points in nine consecutive games, tying the franchise record set in Feb. 1960.

The C's also tied their franchise record for most consecutive home wins (17) to start a season. They've won 23 straight home regular-season games dating back to last year, their longest such streak since 1986-87 when they won 33 straight on their home court.

Boston (27-7) will visit the Indiana Pacers (20-14) on the second night of a back-to-back Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. First, here are three takeaways from Friday's game.

Elite defense on display

This game started with emphatic blocks by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Those set the tone for what turned into a dominant defensive showing from Joe Mazzulla's group.

The Jazz were held to a mere 15 points on 18.5 percent shooting in the first quarter and that hardly improved in the second. They finished the half with 40 points on 30.6 percent shooting (15-for-49).

All five Celtics starters tallied a block through the first two frames. Friday marked the third time all of Boston's starters blocked at least one shot in a game since Dec. 12. The last time the C's accomplished that feat three times in a season was 1991, per Celtics stats guru Dick Lipe.

To put the Celtics' defensive brilliance into perspective, the Jazz shot 51 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range in their Wednesday overtime win over the Detroit Pistons. They finished just 36.2 percent from the floor and 17.6 percent beyond the arc in Boston.

Jayson Tatum takes over

The Jazz found themselves down double-digits in the blink of an eye largely because of Tatum, who had 18 points before the midway point in the second quarter. He nearly outscored Utah on his own in that span.

The Celtics' superstar finished the first half with 23 points -- more than any Jazz player scored in the entire game -- and seven rebounds.





With the C's up 35 points on the first night of a back-to-back, Mazzulla benched Tatum with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. Tatum finished with 30 points (6-12 FG, 5-8 3-PT) and was a team-best +34 in just 25 minutes. He also notched nine rebounds, five assists, one steal, and a block while only turning the ball over once. Thirteen of his points came from the free-throw line.

Much-needed rest

The Celtics had two days off before Friday's game and thanks to the blowout, Tatum and the rest of their starters got to rest for the entire fourth quarter. That sets them up nicely for what's likely to be a fast-paced, high-scoring showdown at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

A tough matchup vs. Indiana awaits on Saturday night. The Pacers scored a whopping 150 points in their win over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday. They dished 50 assists (three shy of the NBA record) on 60 field goals. It's only the 11th time in NBA history that a team has racked up 50 assists in a single game.

The last time the Celtics took on the Pacers, Indiana knocked them out of the NBA In-Season Tournament in a 122-112 defeat. Indiana has been on a tear as of late, winning six consecutive games and scoring at least 120 points in all of them -- and at least 140 points in three of them.

The C's will face the Pacers in Indiana on Friday, then head back to TD Garden to host them on Monday. From there, it'll only get tougher for Boston as it has the third-toughest schedule this month, per NBA.com. Its opponents in January have a .554 winning percentage.

With how grueling the road ahead looks for the Celtics, a little bit of rest should go a long way.

From another perspective:


Jazz 97, Celtics 126: Inside the numbers

https://www.deseret.com/2024/1/5/24026031/jazz-97-celtics-126-inside-the-numbers

By Sarah Toddstodd@deseretnews.com
Jan 5, 2024, 9:25pm EST



Boston Celtics guard Derrick White (9) grabs a rebound against Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler, center, as Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis, right, blocks out during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, in Boston. Charles Krupa, Associated Press

BOSTON — The Utah Jazz win streak came to an end with a 126-97 loss to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Friday night.

Here’s a look inside the numbers from the Jazz’s loss:

Best performance: Jayson Tatum sailed to an easy 30 points on 6-of-12 shooting overall, going 5-of-8 from distance and 13-of-14 from the free throw line.

Worst performance: After a pretty sensational week in Utah, Jordan Clarkson cooled off in Boston, going 1-of-7 in his 17 minutes off the bench, finishing with two points, two assists, two rebounds and four turnovers.

15: The Jazz started out really, really struggling on the offensive end. In the first quarter they shot just 18.5% overall and 8.3% from 3-point range, for a total of 15 first-quarter points. Needless to say, that put them in a hole that was hard to crawl out of.

24-2: The second quarter didn’t start out much better than for the Jazz. From the :28 second mark of the first quarter to the 7:24 point of the second, the Celtics went on a 24-2 run that pretty much sealed the game.

18.2%: The Jazz shot just 6-of-34 (17.6%) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Celtics hit 17 3-pointers in their wire-to-wire win.

Best of the best: There was a time during the second quarter that Tatum was outscoring the Jazz on his own, 18-17.

Worst of the worst: Clarkson and John Collins were a team-worst minus-23 and minus-28 for the Jazz in plus-minus.

Well, this group certainly doesn't have look ahead syndrome. Just as I requested, this game was over after the 1st quarter. A thorough shellacking.

The only thing I couldn't put a finger on was whether it was our (great) defense or if Utah is just that bad and really couldn't throw it in the ocean on a boat 50 miles from shore. It almost seemed as if we didn't need great defense in this game, yet then at times we turned it up and went on 24-5 runs. It was as if you blinked and then we were up 20. Blinked again and we were up 36.

This is what ram it down your throat basketball looks like. The same when we beat IND 155-104. Remember that tonight, BTW.

I don't believe this was Utah's best effort obviously, so I kept waiting for them to mount a comeback, but it never happened. They must have been reading their own headlines as of late and it went to their heads.

Well, we hit the line and then some. IND had a mirror game to us last night as well. It's coming.

db

correcting the article by Justin Leger, Yahoo sports.  He incorrectly states the following:

The C's will face the Pacers in Indiana on Friday, then head back to TD Garden to host them on Monday.

The Celtics did not play the Pacers on Friday.  That game is tonight and they do not return to the TD Gardens to host them on Monday as both games are in Indy.

I cannot make a big deal about beating up on the Jazz.  They came to town with a 5-14 road record. qualifying them for 12th place in the West.  There should be no surprises when you beatdown the Sisters of the Poor.

This was a start to finish shellacking and it tied our best home record start at 17 games.

The two Tommy Point plays of the game were Brissett and Hauser going to the floor and coming up with the possessions.

Indy was bombing away for 150 points in their game with the sucky Hawks.  

By now we all know the deal.  Haliburton is the engine powering that Pacers freight train.  The Celtics would do well to slow him down by giving him different looks.  All I want is for the Celtics to play Celtics basketball.    Do all the things that win games.  I would like to see a low TOV game for us.   And lets hope our boys bring their sneakers with the track thread bottoms.  After years and years of begging for excessive speed, we have arrived.  Nothing more entertaining than watching teams try to run each other off the court