Final: Celtics 125, Jazz 97 - Thorough domination

GAME 74
Boston Celtics (45-28, 24-12 home, T-3rd East) vs. Utah Jazz (45-27, 19-16 road, 4th West)
TD Garden
7:30 PM - NBC Sports Boston

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

Boston: Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Robert Williams

Utah: Donvan Mitchell, Mike Conley, Royce O’Neale, Juancho Hernangomez, Rudy Gobert

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

- Marcus Smart and Robert Williams are available tonight. Smart missed the OKC game with a sinus issue. Williams was dealing with a sore right knee. 

- Aaron Nesmith was assigned to the G League Maine Celtics for one game. He was recalled and is with the team tonight. 

- Udoka Azubuike (Right Ankle Sprain), Bojan Bogdanovic (Left Calf Strain), Danuel House (Left Knee Bone Bruise), are out for the Jazz. 

- Boston is favored by 4.5

GOING A LITTLE DEEPER

- Finding a chance to rest

The Celtics are in a tough spot in some ways, 2.5 games out of first but also riding guys for heavy minutes along the way. Now with nine games left to play, the Celtics are both fighting for seeding and fighting a little bit of fatigue. 

“You want to, obviously, be well rested and healthy going into the playoffs,” Ime Udoka said. “But not take away what we've improved on and areas we still need to get better at. As well as building up playoff minutes. And so it's a balance there.”

Al Horford’s minutes are of particular concern,

“I feel like our medical group has done an unbelievable job with me this year,” Horford said. “I’ve been able to play, I haven’t had many issues. I’ve been very happy with the job that I’ve been putting in in the treatment room, weight room, all those things that I’m doing to put me on the floor. So I’m in a really good place with that.

“But obviously I know that playoffs are coming. We have been playing at a pretty high rate, so I’m sure that at some point or another, I am going to have to take a game or whatever, something like that, to make sure that I’m at my best moving forward. It’s just the way that the season is, but I’ve been pretty happy with how I’ve felt all season.”

Horford, like everyone else in the starting lineup, is going to see an uptick in minutes, so he’ll need to play to ramp up. He’ll also need to rest, to make sure he’s as health as possible. 

“We don't want him to be too rested where he's going into the playoffs and take that spike in minutes and he’s tired after a seven-game series or whatever,” Udoka said. “So it's a balance there. But nights off, you want to find a full night off, not a 25-minute night. And so that's what we’ll look at over the next few games.”

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR 

1, Run the Jazz out of the gym: The Jazz are on their third game in four nights and they're coming off a tough loss to the Brooklyn Nets. Boston, meanwhile, has three days off coming up so they know that there's no reason to hold back. 

This will be a tough matchup early, but if the Celtics come out strong defensively and run off Jazz misses, they could put some distance between themselves and the Jazz. 

It’s especially important to run against Utah because it keeps them from setting a defense and planting Gobert in the middle of the lane. The more they can get out in transition and leave Gobert behind the play trying to catch up, the easier life will be for them (and the more fatigued Gobert will be later on, making him more prone to mistakes and frustration). 

2. Attack Rudy Gobert: He’s a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate for a reason, but there is also a knock on him for a reason, too. 

The Celtics will be able to move the ball and get past Utah’s perimeter defense. Gobert is usually there to erase mistakes, but he’s vulnerable if he’s pulled out of position. Tatum especially will have the opportunity to rack up assists by forcing Gobert come out on him. 

“We have to be able to move the ball pretty well,” Horford said. “Obviously with Gobert there, and him having the impact that he can have defensively, we have to make sure that we do a good job moving the ball and getting the shots that we want.”

This is where Robert Williams can show his value in the Celtics offense. Watch for him in the dunker spot (along the baseline in the halfcourt offense) and see how Gobert and the Jazz defense react to him. Any hesitancy to leave him could result in layups for Tatum and other Celtics drivers, and stepping up to stop attacking Celtics players could mean a bunch of lobs. 

Also, with dual lane threats and the defense sucked in, it could mean very wide open 3-pointers. Boston shouldn’t be afraid of Gobert. Attack him and then read what options are available. 

3. Jayson Tatum’s efficiency: Tatum is on a three-game streak of scoring 30 points on fewer than 20 shots per game. That efficiency has been fueled by getting to the rim and getting to the line. Gobert has a tendency to prevent such things. 

“He’s a deterrent at the rim but he's a big that typically stays back in drop and Tatum had 37 at their place,” Udoka said. “He'll get what he gets off Gobert. But, what we do talk about, especially against teams with a lot of shot blockers, is making the proper reads. You’re gonna draw that attention and you got your drop offs or your kickouts.  And so he's done a great job with that lately, all year actually, and although he's there, can’t take away your aggressiveness at the rim.”

Tatum’s efficiency fuels big wins because it frees up possessions for other guys to get shots. If Tatum is putting up big points on few shots, then other guys get chances to pile points on top of his. 

GAME THREAD

Stick around for more comments below as the game goes on. Feel free to add your two cents in the comments