NEW YORK – The Boston Celtics knew what the sharp-shooting Utah Jazz were all about, and they used suffocating defence and 17 three-pointers to clinch a 126-97 win on Jan 5, maintaining their perfect home record with a bounce-back National Basketball Association (NBA) win.
Jayson Tatum scored 30 points – his 14th 30-point game of the season. Kristaps Porzingis added 19 and Jrue Holiday chipped in 14 in the wire-to-wire victory over a Jazz team who had won nine of their previous 12 games.
Eastern Conference leaders Boston, whose six-game winning streak was snapped in Oklahoma City on Jan 2, set the tone early with Tatum’s block of a Kris Dunn lay-up attempt and Jaylen Brown’s rejection of Lauri Markkanen at the rim.
The Celtics jumped to a 10-0 lead and after Porzingis drilled a three-pointer to make it 18-8 midway through the first quarter, the Jazz did not get the deficit to single digits again.
Boston’s win was their seventh in eight games as they improved to 27-7, ahead of 2021 NBA champions the Milwaukee Bucks (25-10).
“Tonight’s game was about taking away their speed with our physicality and off-ball defence, and I thought we did that,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said after Boston stymied a Jazz team that put up 154 points in an overtime win over the Detroit Pistons on Jan 3.
The Celtics also notched their ninth straight game of 120 points or more. “It’s just the talent, honestly,” Porzingis added of his team’s good form. “Us settling in a little bit to our roles and into our ways of playing. And we’re just that talented to be honest.
“Tonight they were doubling JT (Tatum) and he was willing to make the right pass and the right play. That’s an automatic, huge advantage for us.”
Elsewhere, Western Conference leaders Minnesota snapped their first two-game skid of the season with a 122-95 victory over the Rockets in Houston.
Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards scored 24 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 with eight rebounds and six assists. Rudy Gobert added 13 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots for the Timberwolves, who led by as many as 33 points.
Minnesota improved to 25-9, ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder (23-11), who lost 124-115 as the Nets halted their five-game losing streak in Brooklyn.
Spencer Dinwiddie and Nic Claxton scored 23 points apiece and Cam Thomas broke out of his shooting slump with 19 points for the Nets, who led by as many as 32 in the third quarter.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 34 points, nine rebounds and six assists but Oklahoma City have now lost two straight since beating Boston 127-123.
In Los Angeles, Jaren Jackson Jr. poured in 31 points as the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Lakers 127-113. AFP
