BSJ Game Report: Celtics 121, Jazz 99 - Tatum, Porzingis, C's defense fuel blowout

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

Jayson Tatum did a bit of everything in a monster first quarter that ended with Boston up 14. The Celtics cooled off in the second and the Jazz made a run to cut it to nine at halftime. They got those five points back thanks to a monster run that answered Collin Sexton’s outburst. The Celtics extended the lead in the non-Tatum minutes and then he checked back in to shut the door. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Tatum dominates: He didn’t dominate his entire time on the floor, but he was amazing to start the game and he did a bit of everything. He finished with 24 points, six assists, six rebounds, and three steals. The shooting efficiency waned and I think he settled for a couple of 3-pointers, but he was mostly dominant. 

- Kristaps Porzingis keeps rolling: He said he’s still not feeling his best, but I’ll take whatever this is every night. 27 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists on a night he’s not 100%? Sign me up.

- Defense: The Jazz are turnover prone so the Celtics did what they needed to exploit that. We saw them send double-teams at Sexton, which is a rare decision by Joe Mazzulla. They ended up forcing 17 turnovers, 13 of which were steals that led to 26 points. 

TURNING POINT

The Jazz had cut it to a two-point game with 6:29 to go in the third, but Boston responded with a 13-0 run to get it back up to 15. The lead never dropped below double digits after that. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Doing the dirty work: Aside from the steals, the Celtics hit the offensive glass on their way to 33 second-chance points, their most since 2015. The work showed up in the margins, where they got 97 field goal attempts to Utah’s 84 and 16 offensive rebounds to Utah’s nine. 

- Porizingis finding his touch: He has played well in his three games back from illness, but his touch wasn’t there in the first two. This time he went 9-15 from the field and 3-5 from 3, plus a perfect 6-6 from the line. It’s nice to see him putting it together so quickly. 

- Tatum doing everything: His first quarter was as dominant as it gets, which is somewhat expected coming off a few days off. That first quarter Tatum was MVP-type stuff. 

- Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser: The Celtics won't lose a lot of games when they combine for eight 3-pointers and 32 points. 

- Derrick White’s sneaky steals: Gotta keep your head on a swivel around DWhite. He had three of Boston’s 13 steals and he snuck up behind his victims to rip them clean on all three.

 He also had one amazing blocked shot. 

- This stretch from Jrue Holiday: This was one of the most amazing sequences I’ve seen from a player. 

This is just elite instincts on both ends of the floor. The anticipation, the steal, the outlet pass, and then making a great read on a give-and-go. Thankfully Porzingis made the perfect pass after that. 

- This ridiculous bounce: 

I don’t know how that ended up in Tatum’s hands. It’s one of the luckiest bounces I’ve ever seen.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Allowing offensive rebounds: They gave up six offensive boards to Walker Kessler, but the good news is they were all in the first half. They clearly made it a point to prevent those in the second half and they shut it down nicely.

- Collin Sexton going off: I’ve always kind of liked Sexton. He’s a good player and I think he really cares. That said, Allowing him to go for 30 on 75% shooting and watching him help cut a big lead down to two wasn’t all that fun.

- The slippery floor: White, Tatum, and Porzingis all slipped on wet spots on the Jazz floor. I don't know what was going on there, but by the third time, I was just hoping to escape this game without any freak injuries.  

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- It’s a shame the Celtics had those two fourth-quarter collapses against Cleveland. 

The Celtics have won four straight while the Cavs have just lost their fourth straight. It probably doesn’t matter at this point because all that does is put Boston five games back with 12 games to play, which is still almost impossible to make up. 

But shave a couple of games off that lead and these next few weeks would have gotten interesting. 

To be clear, I don’t care about getting the top seed. It’s mostly a psychological thing. We know how much Mazzulla loves these head games, so it would have been fun. 

At the same time, I wonder if anyone in Cleveland is looking at the standings and getting a little nervous. This is a tough time of year to be watching a once insurmountable lead become somewhat surmountable. 

Next up: The Celtics visit Portland on Sunday at 6 p.m.