The Celtics were without six key rotation players but it did not prevent them from making a little bit of history on Wednesday night. Jaylen Brown hit a go-ahead 3-point shot from the top of the key with 0.3 seconds remaining, which capped a 97-94 win by the visitors at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
It was Boston's fifth straight win overall and capped a 4-0 West Coast swing over the past six days. Those four straight road wins marked the first time since the 2009-10 season that the Celtics swept a four-game road trip.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with a team-high 21 points in the victory while five different Celtics scored in double figures on a night Boston was missing six players (Kyrie Irving, Marcus Morris, Gordon Hayward, Daniel Theis, Marcus Smart, Al Horford) due to injury.
Boston returns home for a showdown with the first place Toronto Raptors on Saturday night at the TD Garden. They still only trail the No. 1 seed by three games.
GAME: No. 75 of 82
WHO: Celtics (51-23) vs. Jazz (42-32)
WHEN: 9:30 p.m.
WHERE: Vivint Smart Home Arena
RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub
TV: NBC Sports Boston
Celtics
PG: Terry Rozier
SG: Jaylen Brown
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Guerschon Yabusele
C: Aron Baynes
Jazz
PG: Ricky Rubio
SG: Donovan Mitchell
F: Joe Ingles
F: Derrick Favors
C: Rudy Gobert
First Half Notes
- With the Celtics usual starting five on the DL, Brad Stevens got creative by inserting Guerschon Yabusele into the fold for the second time this year. He and the rest of the starting five gave out firing early, jumping out to a 12-5 lead, thanks to some timely shooting by Tatum and Yabusele.
- Jazz woke up quickly after a timeout though and wreaked havoc in the pick-and-roll against the C's interior. Stevens responded by going early to Nader and Yabusele off the bench to give his unit a defensive edge with versatility.
- It was a bit of a rock fight for most of the remainder of the first quarter. C's couldn't get anything going in the paint thanks to Gobert's rim protection, while the Jazz (10 first half turnovers) constantly blew opportunities to extend their lead into double digits.
- Plenty of open 3-point looks were missed badly by the Jazz, which enabled the C's to hang around as their offense hit the wall with the bench unit.
- Greg Monroe really can't create anything against a defensive-minded big like Gobert. He can't get the separation he needs to score.
- Despite those offensive woes, the C's finally found some life midway through the second quarter. Tatum got going against Donovan Mitchell, Baynes found some easy midrange jumpers and Jaylen Brown was red-hot from 3-point range.
- A 20-5 run put the Celtics up by ten points at one point as the Jazz couldn't break down a disciplined C's defense.
- Marcus Morris is out with a bruised right ankle. He suffered the injury in the third quarter of Monday's win over the Suns when he landed on the foot of Troy Daniels after an attempted 3-point shot. Al Horford will also miss the game with a sprained ankle suffered on Monday night.
- Xavier Silas is expected to be in uniform with the Celtics after signing a 10-day contract with Boston earlier in the day. He will wear No. 9 and provide depth at shooting guard.
- The Celtics will attempt to sweep a four-game road trip for the first time since the 2009-10 season on Wednesday night.
- The Jazz will have a pair of familiar faces in uniform as Jae Crowder and Jonas Jerebko are both vital parts of Utah's rotation. Brad Stevens told reporters at Wednesday's shootaround that Utah is the "perfect fit" for Crowder after he struggled during the first few months of the year with Cleveland.