Jaylen Brown scored 21 points and drilled a 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds left to lift the Boston Celtics to a stunning 97-94 win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.
Jayson Tatum added 16 points, making a game-tying dunk with 1:09 to play, and Terry Rozier chipped in 13 for the Celtics, who trailed 94-88 with 2:25 remaining. Boston won its fifth straight with a short-handed roster.
Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points to lead Utah. Ricky Rubio tallied 14 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, and former Celtic Jae Crowder added 16 points off the bench. Rudy Gobert contributed 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Jazz lost for the third time in five games, and their lead for eighth place in the Western Conference was cut to one game by the Los Angeles Clippers, who beat the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.
The Jazz used a 13-0 run to take an 18-12 lead in the first quarter. Utah scored on 6 of 7 possessions in that stretch. Gobert did most of the damage. He ignited the run with back-to-back baskets and put the Jazz in front with a layup. Boston missed 14 of 17 shots over the final nine minutes of the quarter.
Boston surged back in front behind strong second-quarter defense. The Celtics held the Jazz to just eight points through the first eight minutes of the period, opening the door for a Boston rally. The Celtics used an 16-2 run, culminating in a 3-pointer from Brown, to go up 46-34 with 1:35 left before halftime.
Mitchell scored 10 points in the first four minutes of the third quarter -- highlighted by back-to-back 3-pointers -- to help Utah cut Boston's lead to 54-52. The Jazz then used a 15-0 run to seize a 69-58 lead. Crowder and Rubio combined for three 3-pointers to fuel the spurt.
Utah rallied during the third quarter in part because of strong defensive play. The Jazz forced Boston to commit 10 turnovers in the period and scored 15 points off of those giveaways.
In the fourth quarter, Boston cut the deficit to 85-84 on back-to-back 3-pointers from Terry Rozier and Shane Larkin. Crowder and Mitchell answered with back-to-back layups to keep Utah in front before the Celtics' late push.
--Field Level Media
source: news.abs-cbn.com
