POST GAME UTAH - AWAY

Celtics Wrap: Jaylen Brown’s Last-Second 3-Pointer Lifts C’s Over Jazz

NESN by Logan Mullen on Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 11:59PM

It was a fitting finish to a gritty road trip. Jaylen Brown’s 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds to play gave the Boston Celtics a 97-94 victory over the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Wednesday as the C’s swept their four-game West Coast swing. Brown paced Boston with 21 points, with four other Celtics contributing double-figure scoring. Donovan Mitchell had a game-high 22 points for Utah. The Celtics climb to 52-23 with the win, while the Jazz fall to 42-33. Here’s how it all went down:

INJURIES CONTINUE Al Horford and Marcus Morris both missed Wednesday’s game due to ankle injuries.

STARTING FIVE PG: Terry Rozier SG: Jayson Tatum SF: Jaylen Brown PF: Guerschon Yabusele C: Aron Baynes

QUIET FIRST Things looked promising for the Celtics early when they started the game on a 12-3 run. But the Jazz equalized less than two minutes later and continued to extend the lead, as Boston went on an ugly scoring drought over 4:33 on the other side of its run. The Jazz finished the first quarter leading 24-18. Rudy Gobert had a game-leading six first quarter points.

C’S GET HOT Utah extended its lead to eight shortly into the second, but the C’s tied things at 28 with an 8-0 run. After both sides went back and forth for a bit, Boston took the advantage with a 11-0 run to go up 41-32 with with three minutes left in the half. The Celtics finished the frame ahead 48-39, thanks in part due to Brown heating up. Jayson Tatum had a game-high 12 points in the half, while Brown had 10. The duo were the only ones to score in double figures during the first 24 minutes.

JAZZ TAKE THE LEAD The Jazz quieted the Celtics offensively on the other side of the break, chipping away at the lead and equalizing with 5:35 to play. From there, they dominated Boston offensively, going on 10-0 run that included a pair of Jae Crowder 3-pointers to take a lead 69-58 with just over four minutes to play in the third. The Jazz’s run swelled to 15-0 before the Celtics stopped the bleeding. Boston cut into the lead during the remainder of the period, pulling within four as it finished the third trailing 71-67. The Jazz outscored the C’s 32-19 in the quarter.

BROWN WINS IT Neither team could build a dominant enough run throughout the fourth to swing the momentum one way or the other, but a solid finish resulted in the victory for the C’s. Boston trailed by six with 2:25 to play, but Greg Monroe added a pair of buckets and Tatum threw down the hammer on a dunk to tie things at 94 with 1:09 left. After neither team could break the tie as time wound down, Brown sealed the deal in a big way just before the buzzer went off. The second-year pro knocked down a 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds left to give the C’s the win.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE GAME Tatum ties the game with authority.

UP NEXT The Celtics will return home for a huge matchup Saturday with the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference, the Toronto Raptors. Tip-off TD Garden is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.

112288

Another amazing team effort by many bench players to support the stellar play of our 21 and 20 years old super stars to be Jaylen and Jason. What a superb win in a string of unlikely wins by a team depleted of starters. One thing continues to bother me - Jaylen does not get enough touches. He was 6-10, 3-3 from 3. He is the Celts 2nd leading scorer, and since the All Star game he has basically shot 50-40-90, but he just does not get the ball enough and sits on the bench for what are to me too lengthy stretches of time. Even Max asked at one point, "Where's Jaylen." Still, he retains his poise and plays like a true professional, even after getting repeatedly clobbered by uncalled fouls. Love Jaylen and ALL these guys.

P.S. Shane Larkin is playing GREAT. Nine rebounds last night! Intense defense. +25 for the game. What a signing by Danny. Who knew that we'd need him this much to win games late in the season? I'd originally expected the Celts to win 54 games this year. Looks like we'll blow by that number.

This was a tantalizing win.  It was another come from behind victory, the 19th of the season, We can never assume that a short handed rotation playing their 4th game on the road against a very solid Utah team, cannot win.

Who needs a 4th string PG on the team?  We do and that is why Danny signed him while us civilians scratched our collective heads wondering why.

Last night's game further cements the reality that the DNA of this team is superior.

Coach Stevens should be coach of the year.  No other team in the NBA has been decimated by injuries like the Celtics and still manage to win.

Highlights include:

Terry Rozier shooting a dreadful 0-8 and then coming out in the 4th scoring 8 straight points.  The 2nd 3 pointer that he made was set up with a Kyrie like dribbling display.  His drive to the hoop was a thing of beauty.

The shortest guy on the team grabs 9 rebounds.  How is that possible?

A guy that has been struggling to make any manner of offensive production comes alive.  Thank you Semi.

And what more can we say about our 20 and 21 year old studs.  

In the end, a most improbable 4-0 road trip for a team that relies on the bottom of their bench to win.  

As the Celtics close in on equaling and surpassing their 53 win total from last year, they continue to fly just under the radar.  You are not suppose to be this damn good.  Anyone that bets against them is a fool.

Everybody who thought we'd go 4-0 on this road trip, raise your hands.  Mine's down.  This was, in my opinion, some of our best stuff ever.  Sam was at the famous balloon game in 1969, in LA, and he used to talk about how the Celtics were old, worn down and nearly out but summoned up their championship genes one last time and went out and won against improbable odds (somewhere there used to be Sam's write up on that experience, but I can't find it.  A GREAT read).  The Cardiac Kids aren't those Legends of Basketball but they are summoning up similar strength and going out and doing the improbable.  I said before the game, on the Game On! thread, that if the Celtics win this game, as thoroughly depleted from injuries and playing their 4th west coast road game in 6 days as they were, they should give the COY award to Brad.  Permanently.  Come up with a new award with a new name because the old one doesn't leave his home.  I stand by that.  Quin Snyder has become a very good coach, he has an elite defense (#2 behind us!), an offense that is only 3 places and .7ppg behind us, his squad was healthy and hungry and Brad beat him.

This was a BIG game for the Jazz.  They are in a dogfight.  This loss dropped them from 7th place into 8th, and the Clippers are only 1 game back.  If they had won this game they would have been in a statistical tie with San Antonio, New Orleans and Minnesota for 5/6/7th.  So, thanks to us, they are now staring at Houston in the 1st round and not GSW (still no bargain), Portland or OKC.  They have a puncher's chance against Portland and OKC and none against the other two (Durant and Thompson will be back before the playoffs).  This was a BIG, BIG game for them.  For us?  No Kyrie, no Smart, no Theis, no Morris, no Horford.  We started this season with 3 All-Stars on the roster.  Last night we beat the team that had the 11th best record in the league, who had been 24-19 at home before this without any of them and without 3 of our top 4 players off the bench.

Downtown Jaylen Brown stepped up.  Donovan Mitchell had one more point, but he was 7-20 while Jaylen was a very efficient 6-10.  And that clutch 3!!  He also went 6-8 from the line.  75% is a nice ft%, it will continue to pull his season average up, but what I really like about this is that he got 8 ftas.  If you look at NBA All-Stars (other than Al Horford, who makes the team as a "glue guy", very rare to make an All-Star game as a "glue guy" and not because of personal stats) you'll see that most of them average a high number of ftas/game.  Even players with shitty ft% (think DeAndre Jordan) can make the All-Star game if they shoot a high number of ftas because it is what gets them to the line that much that earns them the trip (I know about Hack-a-Jordan gets him fritos he otherwise wouldn't get but it is his play that keeps him on the court despite his ft%).  Even Dwight Howard, with his well-documented woes at the frito line, gets to the All-Star game because his game is so good on defense and down low on offense that he is on the court fritos or no fritos.  Jaylen's ftas/game are inconsistent.  If he can even that out and make even moderate improvements in his game year-over-year (and we know he will because of his work ethic) he's going to be a perennial All-Star.  As I was saying to Steve3344 after the game last night, I wouldn't trade either Jaylen or Tatum for anybody other than Davis or KAT or some other young, healthy gamechanger.  People are talking about the logjam next year when Hayward comes back.  Coaches plot homicide to have such problems.

worcester wrote:Another amazing team effort by many bench players to support the stellar play of our 21 and 20 years old super stars to be Jaylen and Jason. What a superb win in a string of unlikely wins by a team depleted of starters. One thing continues to bother me - Jaylen does not get enough touches. He was 6-10, 3-3 from 3. He is the Celts 2nd leading scorer, and since the All Star game he has basically shot 50-40-90, but he just does not get the ball enough and sits on the bench for what are to me too lengthy stretches of time. Even Max asked at one point, "Where's Jaylen." Still, he retains his poise and plays like a true professional, even after getting repeatedly clobbered by uncalled fouls. Love Jaylen and ALL these guys.

+1

He is gonna be so great!! It’s what he does working when we don’t see him, he’s making better passes every game, defends any position, can run, shoot, score....5 tool player. Now he’s getting the clutch gene!!

Anybody bored with Celtics play? I didn't think so.

I wasn't thinking this until I saw Downtown Jaylen Brown's comment on Brad as COY. But that really is the takeaway for this game.

It wouldn't be too difficult to look at all of the other rosters in the NBA and find two people who could replace our Js. But I wouldn't make the move. The window on finding two such players is closing and closing fast. Jaylen was being touted as a possible all star this year. Next year it will be legit. He will get consideration.

Hey Jayson! Did Jaylen's decisions to not dunk inspire that awesome throwdown? This kid is so cool, so poised, it really masks just how raw he really is. Number one priority for the future is improving that handle.

Just wondering what people think. Who really shined? COY candidate Brad or EOY candidate Danny? That's what I thot you'd say. Bpth should be recognized. Given all the circumstances it's really hard to separate the two. Brad only gets consideration because he utilized the roster that Danny provided. Danny's roster only shines the light on him because of the work that Brad put in. Seriously? 11 new players from a team that had gone to the ECF? An increase in victories over the previous season? WoW!

A long long time ago, in a century fast receding, I played point guard with dreams of Bob Cousy every night. So for me, in my opinion only, Celtics play breaks down as follows. Kyrie is an all world type of player. He's not a typical pg. because of all the things that he can do. LeBron was always the point in the Land. But he is showing just what he can do. Marcus was and always will be a combo guard in my opinion. TRo is a shoot first pg. Shane Larkin is a true point guard. He has the capability of being a difference maker based on the decisions he makes and he generally makes very sound decisions.

Our Rookies: Tatum is a ROY candidate and will probably finish third in the voting behind Simmons and Mitchell, whom I expect will win. nuf ced

We all liked Theis and it really is so sad that he finished his season so early. What a great pick up!

Speaking of ROY, how about last year's ROY in the D-league. Abdel Nader has skills and he has desire. He is now starting to be utilized more because of all the injuries. He is showing he can be a solid bench player.

Semi started the year playing more and playing better. But when he lost his confidence, he lost his minutes. But there is no doubt that he is one strong young man and he has skill. His D is ahead of his O right now and how often does that happen? Last night may just have been the spark he needed to ignite his game for the rest of this season.

Finally there is the Dancing Bear who has played the fewest minutes this season. I read the other day that one of the most noisy factions in the NBA is the cheering squad for Guersch. Seems there are people other than me who like his skill set. While still something of a stretch, he is heir apparent to Horford.

Currently the Celtics have the 4th best record in the NBA. That would not be the case without a fantastic bench that only in the last month or so has really come on to claim its own place. That's why basketball is called a TEAM sport.

Next up will be the most important game of the season. Let's send a message that Toronto's title aspirations are about to go as extinct as their raptor namesakes!

Bob

I do not think any reasonable argument could be made against moving either J for an A.  But that seems more remote because these two kids will be anchors on the next Celtics championship Dynasty.

There will be no logjam on this team next year when Hayward returns.  What you will have is an even deeper bench and another layer of insurance that the team can sustain itself through a grueling season.

Watch the line form at the right for any of these players who have performed so well for us. I do not think you will see too much movement other than draft picks. I can see Monroe looking for another payday somewhere else, I do not see the Celtics overpaying him, it will be interesting to see what goes on You don't see too much movement on Golden State year after year. They add a couple of players, here or there, but keep their core together. How long that can go on will be interesting, but POP does it well in San Antonio.

This is a fun team to watch, young, energetic, and positive thinkers, they never think they are out of a game. This has been a fun year to watch these kids grow.

Bob, I was around for that balloon game, the series before, down 3-1, the Celtics came back and beat Philly on their own floor in a 7th game. I was there for that game, probably one of the most exciting games I had ever seen. I then had the opportunity to go to that balloon game. I was in the process of planning my wedding and my Mom went bonkers and almost killed me so I had to turn the tickets down!!! It killed me! That game was something, and watching those guys run off the floor with the balloons in the ceiling and the band not able to play Happy Days Are Here Again was awesome. I will never forget it. They had no right to win that game, but there was no way Russ was going to let those balloons come down!

This team is alot younger but they have the Celtics spirit already. It is a shame that Russell, Jones and Havlicek don't travel as much as they used to. Seeing them at the training facility would be awesome for those guys to see. What it means to be a Celtic, that is what they would see. But it looks like they are learning the meaning already

Rosalie

I'm very happy for Larkin. He gave up a lot to pursue his dream in the NBA and has had such a good stretch of games. It seemed like a worrying situation, taking such a loss in guaranteed money to be the 4th point guard on this team. I'm hopeful he gets a contract in the offseason where he gets multiple years with the same team in the NBA and makes up the money he gave up even if he isn't a Celtic.

RosalieTCeltics wrote:Watch the line form at the right for any of these players who have performed so well for us.  I do not think you will see too much movement other than draft picks. I can see Monroe looking for another payday somewhere else, I do not see the Celtics overpaying him, it  will be interesting to see what goes on You don't see too much movement on Golden State year after year. They add a couple of players, here or there, but keep their core together. How long that can go on will be interesting, but POP does it well in San Antonio.  

This is a fun team to watch, young, energetic, and positive thinkers, they never think they are out of a game. This has been a fun year to watch these kids grow.

Bob, I was around for that balloon game, the series before, down 3-1, the Celtics came back and beat Philly on their own floor in a 7th game. I was there for that game, probably one of the most exciting games I had ever seen. I then had the opportunity to go to that balloon game.  I was in the process of planning my wedding and my Mom went bonkers and almost killed me so I had to turn the tickets down!!! It killed me! That game was something, and watching those guys run off the floor with the balloons in the ceiling and the band not able to play Happy Days Are Here Again was awesome.  I will never forget it.  They had no right to win that game, but there was no way Russ was going to let those balloons come down!

This team is alot younger but they have the Celtics spirit already.  It is a shame that Russell, Jones and Havlicek don't travel as much as they used to. Seeing them at the training facility would be awesome for those guys to see.  What it means to be a Celtic, that is what they would see. But it looks like they are learning the meaning already

Rosalie

Plus 1