On the second stop of their west coast road trip, the Celtics traveled to Delta Center to take on the Utah Jazz in a rematch of a 105-103 Boston loss on Nov. 3. This time, the Celtics (20-12) got a balanced
scoring effort and all-around Derrick White performance, beating Utah (12-20) 129-119 on Tuesday night.
The Celtics were led in scoring by White, who shook off early shooting struggles to finish with 22 points in the second half and 27 for the night, while the Jazz were paced by Keyonte George’s 37 points. White also finished with seven blocks for the first time in his career. Jaylen Brown had a double-double of 23 points and 10 assists.
The Celtics had a mostly clean injury report, with Jayson Tatum still sidelined along with Chris Boucher, who missed his third straight game due to personal reasons. The Jazz were without Ace Bailey, Kevin Love and Georges Niang, along with Walker Kessler, who is out for the season.
The first quarter opened with the Jazz hitting on six of their first 10 shots, jumping out to a 15-6 lead in over three minutes. The Celtics offense eventually caught up, with Neemias Queta hitting his first four shots for an early eight points, but sluggish defense kept the Jazz ahead, and consecutive short-handed layups from Lauri Markkanen with Keyonte George down on the baseline forced a Celtics timeout down 10 with 4:39 left in the quarter.
Boston chipped away slightly out of that timeout, cutting the deficit to seven entering the second quarter. Luka Garza, checking in for the first time during that timeout, scored eight quick points, including on two connections with Jaylen Brown, who hit Garza as the roller when the Jazz blitzed the pick-and-roll. Still, George’s 15 points in the quarter helped keep Utah in front, 38-31.
Boston didn’t take long to find its first lead of the game, starting the second quarter on an 18-2 run that began with back-to-back threes from Anfernee Simons and Sam Hauser. A Simons jumper put Boston ahead for the first time nearly four minutes into the quarter, while corner threes from Garza and Hugo Gonzalez extended Boston’s run into a 51-42 lead.
A 16-3 Utah run brought the Jazz back in front, and a spin-cycle stepback three from George extended Utah’s lead to seven in the final minute, though a pair of free throws from Brown made it a 64-59 Celtics deficit entering the break. George was lights out in the first half, finishing with a game-high 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting, while Boston was led by Garza’s 11 points.
Out of halftime, an 8-2 Celtics run gave them back the lead with 10:37 left to go. Brown led the charge, scoring two early buckets and pushing the ball ahead after a steal for an easy Pritchard lay-in that made it 67-66.
For the remaining 10:37 of the third quarter, the lead changed hands 10 more times, ending with Boston on top entering the fourth quarter, 99-96. Pritchard came alive from the mid-range in the third, scoring on all four of his 2-point attempts for nine points. White also found a groove, coming back from 2-of-8 first half shooting by hitting on three of his four shot attempts in the quarter. With under a minute left, a Simons layup and a steal-and-score from Brown gave Boston its 3-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Opening with a bench-heavy lineup, the Celtics kept a slim edge over the Jazz in the fourth’s first few minutes, though the Jazz entered the bonus with 8:34 left when Boston picked up its fifth team foul. White’s third quarter momentum carried over, and he hit his first three shots and a pair of free throws for nine points in the fourth quarter’s first four minutes.
Boston got its lead up to nine after a Pritchard left-hand layup, but Utah didn’t go away. At 5:21, Jaylen Brown checked in for the first time in the quarter with Boston up four, and he immediately made an impact, finishing on a mid-range jumper on his first possession. Brown then completed his double-double with a drive-and-kick to an open Simons in the corner, who buried a three for an 11-point lead with under four minutes to go.
A pair of tough Brown mid-range finishes kept Boston in front by double-digits in the final two minutes, including one on an island against Markkanen. That final scoring touch was enough to hold off Utah for Boston’s second win on their road trip.
Boston’s third stop of the west coast road trip takes them to Sacramento, where they’ll take on the Kings (8-24) on New Year’s Day at 10 p.m.
