BSJ Game Report: Celtics 114, Jazz 108 - Sam Hauser's career night almost spoiled by Utah comeback

Everything you need to know about the Celtics win over the Jazz, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

The first half was nothing to write home about. Jrue Holiday led the Celtics with seven after the first quarter and Derrick White’s 13 in the second helped Boston build a 53-47 lead despite a mostly lackluster 24 minutes. Sam Hauser caught fire in the third and pushed the Boston lead to 21 after three. It got as high as 24 but Utah erased all of it with a massive run in the fourth. They could never take the lead, though, and the Celtics held on.”

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Hausermatic: He set a Celtics record with seven 3-pointers in the third quarter to outscore the entire Jazz team 23-22. He finished the game with a career-high 33. 

“Yeah sometimes you just get in that flow state or that rhythm,” Hauser said after the game. “Every shot you take feels like it's going in and it feels like you have a good chance to make every shot you take.”

- Lackluster everything else: The first half was a snooze-fest. The Celtics completely let up to start the fourth and it nearly cost them. They finished strong, but this was not a game anyone will care to remember unless you’re part of the Hauser family. 

- The Utah Jazz are tankeriffic: What a perfect game for them. They just sucked in the first half, they gave up a monster lead, and then tantalized their fans with a comeback that, wouldn’t you know it, fell just short. Now fans get to dream big while the lottery odds stay unaffected. 

TURNING POINT 

Holiday’s offensive rebound off a missed free throw and subsequent 3-pointer helped cap a four-point play that broke a late tie. Jaylen Brown’s dunk and Hauser’s final 3-pointer made it a 9-1 run to give Boston an eight-point lead with 1:20 to go. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Sam Hauser: More on Sam separately, but I always love when a shooter can stay with it after starting cold. That's not the easiest thing to do in the world. Confidence can be fleeting in these games, but still doing the work to get into shooting spots is impressive. 

- Strong finish: The Celtics closed the game on an 11-5 run. Considering how it started and how long they seemed lackluster in this game, it was a good finish. 

- Jrue Holiday: This is mostly because of the 4-9 shooting night (2-5 3pt). Anything that shows the mallet finger isn’t bugging him is a win in my book. 

- Jaylen Brown: I actually didn’t think he played well in this game, but he finished with 23 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and a block. The numbers are too good to list under “didn’t like,” and he made some big plays late in the game win it, so I’m keeping him in this section. 

At the same time, he was clearly bothered by his knee soreness and that impacted him throughout the game. 

“I didn't feel my best physically,” he said. “I started off missing some shots that I felt like I normally would make.”

- Svi Mykhailiuk getting his ring: This was cool 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Playing Jaylen Brown: Why was he pushing himself through this one? The numbers were impressive and I appreciate the warrior mentality, but there are bigger things to prepare for here. This should have been a night off. 

- Too much matchup hunting: It felt like the offense slowed down a lot as the Celtics tried to target Walker Kessler. The Jazz have plenty of places to attack, so stopping and hunting that matchup felt clunky. 

- Another outlier rando performance: Brice Sensabaugh came in averaging 9.7 points per game, but he went off for 17 in the fourth quarter. 

“A part of our scouting report was like we wanted to give certain guys shots and they missed them throughout the game,” Brown said. “Then at the start of the fourth quarter, they hit them all, it seemed like, consecutively, which helped to storm back into the game.”

On the bright side, Sensabaugh is actually playing pretty well since the break, averaging 14.5 points and shooting 43.5% from 3. Still, that was a ridiculous stretch for him. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- I’m not thrilled with the Kristaps Porzingis update.

Porzingis tweeted this out during the game:

“I have been dealing with some viral illness that we haven't been able to fully identify yet. I am recovering and getting better. But still working my way back to full strength to help this team. Thanks for the support and I'm hoping for a healthy return soon.”

This saga has gotten a little weird over the past few days, with him getting upgraded and saying he was going to play against the Lakers and then being downgraded to out. Then he was doubtful heading into this game, which he missed. 

The story has always been that he’s sick and working his way back, and that's consistent with this update. The lie of omission has been that they don’t know what it is.

He has been around and he’s gone through pregame shooting more than once since this has happened, so there's never been a dire feeling about it, but the unknown nature of what’s been ailing him is not great. Other athletes have dealt with similar illnesses, and ultimately he’ll be okay, but they only have 17 games left. This is ramp-up time and he needs to start getting out there. 

The good thing is that Al Horford (who missed tonight’s game) and Luke Kornet have done well enough that they don’t NEED Porzingis to play more than usual in the playoffs, but they still need him to be available. 

Next up: The Celtics host the Thunder on Wednesday.