'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The Utah Jazz hosted a Boston Celtics team without either of their 2 All-Stars Al Horford and Kyrie Irving. Despite being on a hot run with 23 wins in their last 27 games, the Jazz failed to take advantage of a depleted Celtics roster, losing 97-94 in a well-contested game.
The Jazz failed to capitalize on the opportunity to tie the San Antonio Spurs for the 6th spot, and are now at the 8th seed in the Western Conference, just 1 game ahead of the Clippers in 9th and 2 ahead of the Denver Nuggets in 10th place. The Celtics, meanwhile, consolidated their hold on the 2nd seed, and could even go on to win the Conference if the Toronto Raptors keep stuttering as they have in their last 5 games.
Here are 5 talking points from the game:
#5 The battle for interior dominance
The Jazz frontcourt trio of Rudy Gobert, Jonas Jerebko, and Derrick Favors took advantage of the absence of Al Horford to outrebound the Celtics bigs by a margin of 8. It was easy to do so, as Stevens was forced to start rookie Guerschlon Yabusele - an undersized power forward playing only his 29th game in the league.
Gobert collected 11 boards of his own, while Favors and Jerebko chipped in with 5 and 7 respectively. The Jazz frontcourt, however, got outscored by their Celtics counterpart 24-21, as Jerebko missed 4 out of his 5 shot attempts.
#4 Battle from downtown
The Celtics had a great shooting night from 3-point territory, as they converted 12 of their 21 attempts (57.1%) from outside the arc. Most of their shot attempts were either open or wide open, and they benefited from their conservative approach by taking only the easier 3-point options instead of chucking their way into high figures from downtown. Jaylen Brown, for example, converted all 3 of his attempts, while Tatum missed 1 out of 3.
The Jazz, on the other hand, had a cold night from beyond the arc. Joe Ingles, one of the top 3-point shooters in the world and currently 3rd in 3-point percentage in the entire league, shot a below-par 2-of-7, as the Jazz were only able to convert 9 out of their 33 looks for a woeful 27.3% conversion rate.
#3 Battle of the rookies
This game was a microcosm of the fascinating battle taking place in the Rookie of the Year sweepstakes this year. It featured 2 of the top 3 candidates in Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell, and with the Celtics depleted in roster strength for the game, it pushed Tatum into an alpha role just like Mitchell with the Jazz.
Neither of them had their best games of the season today, but they managed to play their team roles quite effectively. Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points on 19 shots, including 10 straight in the 3rd quarter. He converted 5 out of his 6 free throws and 3 out of his 8 3-point attempts, solidifying his name as a front-runner in the race.
Tatum played excellent defense on the night, getting 2 blocks and 2 steals. He often had to guard the likes of Favors and Jerebko on switches. He also put up 16 points, second in the Celtics team to topscorer Jaylen Brown who had a wonderful game himself on both ends of the floor.
Both rookies emerged from this game with their credentials enhanced.
#2 Boston's bench players shine
The absence of all 3 of the All-Stars on the Boston roster of late has thrust much more responsibility onto the role players on the team than was envisioned before tipoff this season. The likes of Jaylen Brown and rookie Jayson Tatum have responded magnificently and their play has been well-covered by the mainstream media, but even the rest of the roster upped its level of play on the night to compensate for the absence of Al Horford, Marcus Morris and Kyrie Irving. Not to mention Gordon Hayward, who was forced to miss the entire season from Game 1 of the regulars eason.
5'11" Shane Larkin led the Celtics in rebounding with 9 boards, while also dishing out 4 assists and scoring 10 points. Semi Ojeleye, Greg Monroe, and Abdel Nader combined for 21 points off the bench. Their high IQ movement, effort, and hustle on both ends of the floor meant that the Boston bench unit often outshone the Jazz's favored 5-man lineup of Mitchell, Ingles, Crowder, Rubio, and Gobert
#1 The excellent defensive play exhibited on the night
This was a showdown between the 2 best defenses in the league this season - the Celtics are #1 with a defensive rating of 101.2 points per 100 possessions conceded, while the Jazz are #2 with a rating of 102.0.
To neutralize the effect of the Twin Towers (Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert), the Celtics played a 2-3 zone and managed to restrict the Jazz to 41.5% shooting and only 82 shot attempts through 48 minutes. Aron Baynes, in particular, did an excellent job of holding the likes of Gobert and Favors to just 5 and 6 field goal attempts respectively.
The Jazz defense was anchored excellently by the best defensive player in the league this season: Rudy Gobert. The wing players on the Jazz defensive schemes funneled all the offensive traffic into Gobert's path, and the sight of the Stifle tower caused many Celtics players driving into the lane to forgo shot attempts and pass it out instead.
The takeaway
If the NBA head coaching role is about getting the best out of every player on your roster while simultaneously leading your team to success, then Brad Stevens is hands down the best coach in the league, and the Coach of the year award should definitely go to him this year. The Celtics are on pace to better their 53-29 record from last season and are currently sitting at a 52-23 record.
Not only has Stevens excelled at man management, improving his players' skills and at setting them up to play the league's best defense, he has also been a maestro in the clutch situations. Yes, a large part of the Celtics' clutch scoring can be attributed to the acquisition of Kyrie Irving and his amazing 4th quarter play. And yet, without Stevens' amazing ATO plays, defensive schemes and meticulous planning, the Celtics wouldn't be winning over 70% of their clutch games.
The best part about Stevens' candidature is that the Celtics team has barely missed a beat even after Gordon Hayward's opening day injury, Kyrie's knee troubles of late and all the games that Horford has had to sit out from time to time this season. Irrespective of what personnel they deploy, the Celtics has a culture of hustle play, team defense and unselfish offense that few other teams in the league can match.
Guess the Lakers players!
