POST GAME UTAH - AWAY

STUDS AND DUDS: CELTICS FALL IN UTAH

WEEI

By Mike Petraglia

It was a disappointing and defenseless start to the post All-Star break run for the Celtics.

Utah shot 54.4 percent from the floor and the Celtics were reduced to 3-point shooting in the fourth-quarter of a 111-93 loss Friday night in Salt Lake City.

The Celtics couldn’t make it all the way back from a 17-point third-quarter hole and fell in their first game back from the All-Star break. Down 79-62, the Celtics went on a 14-4 run, cutting it to 83-76 on a Jared Sullinger hook shot with 10:41 left in the fourth quarter.

But the Jazz responded with a 15-5 run, capped by a Rudy Gobert dunk with 5:41 left that essentially put the game away.

The Celtics, who had won five of six and 10 of 12 before the break, fell to 32-24. They remain a game ahead of the 31-25 Hawks, who lost Friday night at home to Miami. The Jazz, tied for the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference playoff race, improved to 27-27 on the season.

For a complete box score, click here. To go beyond the box, read on.

STUD OF THE NIGHT: Isaiah Thomas. The Celtics’ All-Star representative put up a team high 25 points, but on 7-of-19 shooting from the field.

DUD OF THE NIGHT: Amir Johnson. Continuing his slump from before the break, the big man scored just two points and picked up one rebound in 17 minutes.


WHINE OF THE NIGHT: Perimeter defense. The Celtics allowed the Jazz to shoot 54 percent from the field for the game, including a combined 13-for-19 shooting from the front court combo of Derrick Favors and Gobert. Favors led the Jazz with 23 points while Gobert had 11 points and 15 rebounds.

STAT OF THE NIGHT: 37 percent. The Celtics looked out of sorts all night offensively and, except for a spurt late in the third quarter, could not get anything going, making just 30-of-81 shots.
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Celtics Wrap: Boston Struggles To Find Rhythm In 111-93 Loss To Jazz

NESN

by Darren Hartwell

The Boston Celtics emerged from the All-Star break with the same team they started with, but they didn’t play like their pre-break selves Friday night. The Celtics looked rusty and lethargic at times in their first game in eight days, shooting just 37 percent from the floor in a 111-93 loss to the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Boston hung around in the first half despite an underwhelming offensive effort, but the Jazz pulled away with a big third quarter run to hold on for the victory. All-Star Isaiah Thomas led all scorers with 25 points, but only three other Celtics (Jae Crowder with 15, Avery Bradley with 12 and Evan Turner with 10) reached double figures. Derrick Favors tallied 23 points for the Jazz, while Gordon Hayward added 22 and Rudy Gobert notched a double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds.

STARTING FIVE Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Jared Sullinger, Amir Johnson

OUT OF TUNE The Celtics hadn’t played a basketball game in over a week, and it showed out of the gate. Boston had plenty of rust to shake off in the first quarter, shooting just 36 percent in the frame and connecting on just 2 of 8 3-point attempts. Fortunately, the Celtics’ defense was up to the task, forcing a whopping eight Jazz turnovers in the first 12 minutes to keep pace despite Utah connecting on 63 percent of its shots in the quarter. Amir Johnson pokes it away on the defensive end, then gets the feed from Jae Crowder for a transition slam!

DEEP DIVIDE Apparently the Jazz practiced their 3-pointers over the All-Star break. Utah lit it up from three in the first half, hitting an incredible nine long balls on 12 attempts and getting multiple 3-pointers from four different players, including Raul Neto, who went 5 for 5 through the first two quarters. We're now 9-for-12 from long range after that Raul 3-ball!

On the other end, the Celtics’ second unit struggled without the injured Kelly Olynyk, going scoreless through the first three minutes of the second quarter. Yet Boston continued to limit turnovers and trailed by just five at the half.

RUNNING AWAY WITH IT The Jazz threatened to pull away several times in the first half, and they finally did so in the third quarter. Utah turned up the heat on both the offensive and defensive ends, ripping off a 15-2 run to open up a 17-point lead thanks to sequences like this: Utah is doing it on both ends of the floor on ESPN!

What was a fast-paced frame soon slowed to a crawl, however. Boston scored eight of its final 10 points in the quarter from the free throw line as both teams combined to shoot 27 free throws over a 12-minute span.

SWAT TEAM The Jazz’s big man duo of Gobert and Favors altered the Celtics’ shots all night, as Gobert blocked four shots while Favors swatted three. They also went to work on the offensive end, abusing Boston’s big men on the post to help Utah outscore the C’s 44-30 in the paint.

PLAY OF THE NIGHT Thomas is tough to stop one-on-one, and Trevor Booker found that out the hard way in the first half.

UP NEXT The Celtics will stay out West, traveling to Denver on Sunday to take on the Nuggets, who are out of the Western Conference playoff picture but won three of their last four games entering the All-Star break. Tipoff at Pepsi Center is set for 5 p.m. ET.

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http://nesn.com/2016/02/brad-stevens-jazz-hit-us-in-the-mouth-in-celtics-underwhelming-loss/

bobheckler wrote:Had to compete with the Warriors game last night at Ozuma's.  I may have been the one buying the fish, but the sushi chef held the knife and the remote.  As a result I did not get a full uninterrupted game as we kept shifting back and forth.

Last night was a night for underdogs.  Indy beat OKC in OKC, the Magic beat Dallas, the Wizards beat Detroit, the Nets beat the Knicks, the Heat beat Atlanta in Atlanta and last but not least the Portland Trailblazers obliterated the Golden State Warriors by 32 points.  We were just one more.

Gobert had 4 blocks but one of them was on Thomas.  That's because Mighty Mite hasn't figured out that he's a foot-and-a-half shorter and that doesn't even include the Condor-like wingspan.  Gobert also had 5 turnovers.  To say he is 'rudimentary' on offense is being nice.  He was 3-for-freaking-8 from the line.  Another NBA center who cannot be in at the end of a close game because he can't hit fritos.  The league is going to change the rules to protect him and, in doing so, ruin the game by allowing inferior talent play when they should be sat down because they lack a key basketball skill.

They shot 55% for the game and 44% from 3.  You're going to win a lot of games if you shoot like that.  A lot of that was our poor defense.  They had 44 points in the paint.  That's good but not "OH MY GOD!" good.  We have had several games with more points in the paint than that.  In fact, WE AVERAGE MORE POINTS IN THE PAINT/GAME THAN UTAH.  We are 8th in the league in points in the paint with 44.2/game.  Utah is 21st with 40.6.  So, their game last night was as good as our average and way above theirs.  Let's not overstate things just based upon one game.  

Sullinger 4-13.  That didn't help.  His job was to drag Gobert away from the basket.
Thomas 7-19.  

Mickey with an impressive 3 minutes.  A very nice pnr for 2 and 2 blocks.  Put me in, coach!


The Utah Jazz's record is now 27-27, meaning it was sub .500 going into last night.  They are not a particularly good team and their front court hasn't changed.  Gobert missed some games but they still have struggled.  One game is not irrefutable evidence of anything.  We play these guys in a 7 game series and we'd win.

One game, one loss.  Move on, I say.  Let's see how they do tomorrow in Mile High City.


bob


.

"He was 3-for-freaking-8 from the line. Another NBA center who cannot be in at the end of a close game because he can't hit fritos."

Gobert's a slightly above 60% career free throw shooter, like Rondo. And since he's young, that might go up a bit. He'll stay in at the end of games.

sinus007 wrote:Hi,
I wonder if anyone here took a notice. The game was on ESPN with Barry as a color-man and - sorry, don't remember the other guy's name. During the broadcast they discussed different players, past and present. Then they mentioned 3 Celtics: Cousy, Havlicek and Bird, and rated them as "very decent" players. My jaw dropped down to my knees - couldn't say a word. Or am I a lost cause in objectivity?

AK

That was said sarcastically.  You missed the first part.  It was pointed out that Isaiah Thomas is averaging over 20 PPG and 6 APG and they said the only other Celtics to have seasons with averages over 20 points and 6 assists per game were Cousy, Havlicek and Bird.  And that's when the commentator added, "And those were some pretty decent players."

I didn't see the end of the game as I gave up and went to bed.

but did I read that Bradley has a knee issue that could be problematic and that Smart is hurt again?

Kelly out
Lee gone

Bradley-?
Smart-?

so much for that deep bench, I suppose

It has appeared that Amir Johnson has been a great teammate and has worked hard throughout the year for the Cs, but last night's game indicated (again) that he needs to be replaced as our starting center for the 2016-17 season.

I have enjoyed his good games, but his drastic inconsistency throughout the year has been kind of annoying. A team with high level playoff seeding aspirations has to get more from its starting center on a nightly basis.

This is certainly not meant to solely blame Johnson for last night's defeat in Utah, but rather to point out his up and down (alst night) play this season. And, yes, I have been critical of the younger Cs this year with their consistency, but Johnson is certainly not a young player any longer and should have a better handle on playing well every night.