Jaylen Brown’s three-pointer on Wednesday night gave the short-handed Boston Celtics more than just a perfect road trip — it gave him some much-needed rest.
Brown’s basket with 0.3 seconds left gave the Celtics a 97-94 victory over the Utah Jazz.
“I was just hoping it went in there, man,” Brown said. “I had nothing left for OT [overtime], so I’m just happy to win.”
Photo: AP
Boston did not allow the Jazz to score over the final 2 minutes, 25 seconds and ended the game on a 9-0 run.
Brown’s winner from straightaway came after Joe Ingles missed a potential go-ahead shot for the Jazz with 16 seconds remaining.
Jayson Tatum added 16 for the Celtics, who won their fifth straight, despite their injuries. Terry Rozier chipped in 13 points.
With Kyrie Irving out after knee surgery, and Marcus Morris and Al Horford both sidelined with ankle injuries, the Celtics finished a 4-0 trip to the West in what would have been Gordon Hayward’s return to Utah had he not been injured in the season opener.
The latest winning effort came because of Boston’s ability to get stops late in the game. Utah did not score again after Jae Crowder cut to the hoop to put the Jazz up 94-88.
“We played more zone tonight than we have in two years,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “Their high pick-and-rolls were giving us fits and we had to play some double bigs there for a while. Guys just kind of battled and hung around.”
Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points for Utah. Ricky Rubio tallied 14 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, while Crowder added 16 points off the bench.
The Jazz (42-33) lost for the third time in five games.
Utah seemed in control in the third quarter, forcing 10 turnovers and turning them into 15 points. It helped the Jazz rip off a 15-0 run, also fueled by three three-pointers from Rubio and Crowder, to take a 69-58 lead.
“They were pressuring us good,” Stevens said. “They were switching a lot of screens on and off the ball. They were really physical with us and into our bodies. Rubio did a great job at the point of attack defensively.”
Boston charged back in the fourth quarter. Back-to-back three-pointers from Rozier and Shane Larkin helped trim the deficit to 85-84.
Crowder and Mitchell answered with back-to-back layups to keep the Jazz in front.
Boston kept coming and tied it at 94 on Tatum’s dunk with 1 minute, 9 seconds left.
Utah had a 13-0 run in the first quarter to take an 18-12 lead. Rudy Gobert had three baskets, including a go-ahead layup, to fuel the run.
Boston missed 14 of 17 shots and scored six total points over the final 8 minutes, 53 seconds of the quarter.
The teams reversed roles during the second quarter. Boston found their shooting rhythm and shut down Utah on the other end of the court. The Celtics surged in front behind a 16-2 run, taking a 46-34 lead late in the quarter.
Brown put Boston in front with back-to-back baskets and capped the spurt with his second three-pointer of the game.
Utah missed six of seven shots during the run.
“We had lack of focus at times,” Mitchell said. “Sometimes, like at the first of the game, we didn’t play well offensively and that puts too much pressure on our defense.”
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