A livid, Jaylen Brown-led comeback couldn’t save the Celtics from an unpleasant loss Monday night time at TD Backyard.
Brown scored eight of his 36 factors within the ultimate three minutes to erase a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit, however the Celtics couldn’t full the comeback, dropping to the Utah Jazz 105-103.
Neemias Queta missed a free throw with 24.8 seconds remaining, and Jusuf Nurkic scored the game-winning bucket off certainly one of Utah’s 15 offensive rebounds on the following possession. Boston’s final gasp ended with Brown being known as for an offensive foul, sealing the win for the rebuilding Jazz.
Regardless of Utah taking part in with out injured main rebounder Walker Kessler, the Celtics had been outrebounded 55-36 within the sport. In addition they endured certainly one of their worst 3-point capturing performances of the Joe Mazzulla period, capturing 21.5% from deep (11-for-51).
Jazz guard Keyonte George scored 31 factors on 9-of-16 capturing and went 11-for-13 from the foul line to guide all scorers. George additionally was concerned within the sport’s most controversial play when he slipped within the ultimate minute, inflicting Brown to stumble over him and lose possession.
George was not known as for a foul on the play, which Brown stated was “unacceptable” and “some (BS).”
“You possibly can’t have a mistake like that as an official at that time within the sport,” Brown lamented. “… How’d none of you see it? You possibly can’t journey someone within the fourth quarter after which it simply be a no name.”
Boston will look to bounce again towards one other projected lottery group when the Washington Wizards go to Causeway Road on Wednesday (7:30 p.m.).
The Celtics sprinted out to a double-digit first-quarter lead fueled by 3-pointers from Derrick White, Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser. Hauser had been his normal environment friendly self from past the arc this season (45.1% getting into Monday), however the sizzling begin appeared encouraging for White and Pritchard, who’ve entered the sport ranked second-to-last and final in 3-point capturing share amongst all gamers with a minimum of 35 makes an attempt.
Then, the threes stopped falling, and that Celtics cushion shortly evaporated. After leaping forward 10-0, Boston proceeded to overlook 9 of its subsequent 10 3-point makes an attempt, together with 5 straight misses by Brown. Utah obtained to inside three late within the first quarter and tied the sport at 27-27 early within the second.
Neither White nor Hauser made one other triple till halfway by the fourth quarter, combining to overlook 10 straight after their early makes. Pritchard began 3-for-4 from deep however misfired his subsequent six.
After Utah’s rally, Anfernee Simons (15 factors) gave the Celtics some respiratory room with three large performs in fast succession. The undersized sixth man performed high quality protection on a driving Lauri Markkanen to assist pressure a turnover, then buried 3-pointers on back-to-back Celtics possessions.
Josh Minott, making his fifth consecutive begin for Boston, adopted these up with an acrobatic putback dunk off a Brown miss. Minott additionally was the participant primarily liable for defending Markkanen — the one current All-Star on Utah’s roster — and the 7-foot-1 large man managed simply six first-half factors on 3-for-12 capturing. General, it was probably the greatest defensive halves of the season for the Celtics, who held the Jazz to 36 factors on 31.3% capturing and led by 10 at halftime regardless of capturing simply 39.1% themselves (and 7-for-28 from three).
Fouls had been a problem for Minott, nevertheless; he picked up three within the first half and one other 9 seconds into his first third-quarter shift, limiting his taking part in time.
The opening 9 minutes of the second half had been a slog for the Celtics, who seemed disjointed offensively and struggled to corral George. The third-year guard transformed a number of driving layups over White, the NBA’s prime shot-blocker at his place, and drilled a step-back three whereas being blanketed by Baylor Scheierman. Markkanen started to warmth up, as properly, and Utah pulled forward for the primary time.
The Celtics obtained the spark they wanted when, after Joe Mazzulla known as a timeout along with his group trailing 66-61, Brown scored two contested 2-pointers in 13 seconds, drawing a foul on the second. These bookended a standout defensive play by Scheierman and Chris Boucher, who raced again to foil a quick break by Ace Bailey.
Boucher then hit a 3-pointer — his first in a Celtics uniform after an 0-for-8 begin to his tenure — to place Boston up 70-66. However that additionally was the one three any Celtics participant made within the third quarter — or the primary a number of minutes of the fourth, for that matter. By the point White and Pritchard lastly regained their rhythm with threes on consecutive journeys, the Jazz had constructed a 12-point lead with simply over seven minutes to play.
Brown’s 3-point stroke by no means materialized (he completed 0-for-9 from deep), however he keyed Boston’s rally by aggressively attacking each the basket and Utah’s ball-handlers. He made three discipline objectives on the rim within the ultimate 5:13 and drew a foul on one other, establishing certainly one of his buckets by stealing the ball from Elijah Harkless on the different finish.
Six straight factors from Brown trimmed Utah’s result in one with 2:20 remaining, and a 3 by White put the Celtics forward 99-98. However Boston couldn’t shut.
