Final: Jazz 123, Celtics 113 -- C's defense gets exposed in Hayward's return

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Celtics' defense finally woke up in the fourth quarter against the Utah Jazz, but unlike Thursday night in Phoenix, they didn't have enough left in the tank to pull off the comeback. Joe Ingles scored a game-high 27 points for the hosts, leading a potent Jazz scoring attack that featured six players scoring 14 or more points as the Jazz spoiled Gordon Hayward's return to his former home with a 123-113 victory.

The C's offense actually held its own without Kyrie Irving (attending grandfather's memorial in Washington) but they couldn't manage to keep the Jazz out of the paint all night long in the pick-and-roll as poor coverages and effort was prevalent throughout the first three quarters, helping Utah to put up 95 points through three frame. Terry Rozier (team-high 22 points) helped to make things interesting in the fourth quarter with his hot shooting, but the C's could not get any closer than four after trailing by 17 points for parts of the second half. 

Hayward had 13 points and 7 assists while being loudly booed upon every touch in the Vivant Smarthome Arena. Boston now drops to 1-3 on their road trip with one more tough test looming in Portland on Sunday night.

Second Half Notes

• Jazz continue to tear up the C's defense in the third quarter, shooting 61 percent through three frames behind the potent offense of Ingles, Gobert and Rubio getting whatever they wanted against the pick-and-roll.


• C's offense seemed off kilter for most of the third quarter, but they still managed to remain within striking distance thanks to some terrific shooting at the FT line (17-of-18) and timely 3-point shooting.


• Jaylen Brown still is struggling mightily with his shot on offense, going 4-of-15 from the field through the first three frames.


• Al Horford is shooting well when is committed to getting the ball up but he's frequently looking to pass first too much.


• Rollercoaster ride of a game for Marcus Smart who is flying around everywhere and taking two ill advised 3s for every one he knows down.


• C's chip away late at lead, cutting it to four on a couple of occasions after some hot 3-point shooting from Rozier and improved D on Ingles.

• Jazz bench continues to get a lot of good looks from the outside but can't knock anything down. They are collectively 3-of-12 over the first 18 minutes of game.


• Joe Ingles continues to get whatever he wants against C's defense with his movement off the ball and sharp drives to the hoops, but C's defense has improved on the whole with some better closeouts and denials of rim runs by Gobert.


• C's pushing the ball nicely in transition which has created some 3s. Seven players have hit at least one through first 20 minutes.


• Turnovers (nine overall) continue to wreak havoc against the Utah offense. A lot of bad decisions and active hands from Tatum (three steals).


• Ingles took over in the closing minutes of the frame, leading a 12-3 run to push the Jazz lead back up to 7. He had a game-high 20 points in the first half as the C's were unable to slow down the pick-and-roll with him and Gobert.

• Jazz targeting Hayward plenty out of the game with Joe Ingles on screens but with limited success.


• C's come out red-hot after a brutal game in Phoenix, knocking down their first four shots of the game, including a pair of in-rhythm treys from Jayson Tatum and Terry Rozier.


• Hayward breaks the ice with a nice transition layup off a full court pass from Jaylen Brown. Also dishes out an assist to Al Horford in the pick-and-roll which helps C's jump up to 10-2 lead.


• Jazz respond with a 12-0 run after a timeout by Quinn Synder, feasting on a steady diet of rim rolls by Rudy Gobert for easy turnovers.


• A couple questionable shots by Tatum earns him an early seat on the bench along with Hayward.


• Ricky Rubio throwing some horrific passes early on that are sidetracking Jazz offense (2 turnovers, should have been a couple more if C's could hold onto ball).


• Smart and Horford doing some nice playmaking in the pick-and-roll to find open shooters early.


• Jazz shooting the lights out early but turnovers (six) help keep C's in it after one.


• C's doing a nice job with ball movement early on, eight assists on nine made field goals.

• Kyrie Irving will sit out the game due to attending his grandfather's memorial. Terry Rozier will start in his place. "He’ll play more minutes most likely because there’s more minutes to be had," Stevens said. "Any time you have that you’re less likely to press. I think he did a really good job last night. Made a lot of the right plays. Hey, him adjusting to that new spot, and the ups and downs that come with it are as predictable as it comes. That’s part of it – he’s a really good player, everyone knows he’s a really good player, and we won’t change our plan of attack with him. When Kyrie isn’t available he’ll start, when he is he’ll come off the bench."


• It will be an important night for Aron Baynes in the middle against the rebounding of Rudy Gobert. Baynes did not play in the second half against the Suns as the C's rallied from 22 down for the win.


• Hayward will be playing in Utah for the first time since signing with the Celtics in the summer of 2017. "Obviously he spent seven great years here and it meant a lot to him and his family," Stevens said before the game. "I’m sure there’s emotions that go into that for him. The best we can you focus on what you can control and go from there. It would be not human to not recognize there’s extra emotions attached to this."


• Utah has been a surprising 5-6 to start the season with some unexpected regression on the defensive end (17th in NBA). They dropped four straight games last week before snapping the streak with a win over the Mavericks on Wednesday night.