Celtics guards Hugo González (left) and Payton Pritchard (11) put pressure on Jazz center Kyle Filipowski in the second quarter at TD Garden.
Celtics guards Hugo González (left) and Payton Pritchard (11) put pressure on Jazz center Kyle Filipowski in the second quarter at TD Garden.Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 36 points but the Celtics lost to the Jazz, 105-103, Monday night at TD Garden.
Derrick White, who entered Monday shooting just 30.8 percent from the field and 25 percent from the 3-point line, started this game in encouraging fashion when he pulled up for a 3-pointer.
But that didn’t really unlock much. Through three quarters, White did not score again.
Still, the Celtics started the night with a strong 10-0 run and took a 14-2 lead on a Payton Pritchard turnaround jumper with 6:58 left in the first quarter. Boston’s work on the offensive glass was once again impactful, with Neemias Queta leading the way. He had five rebounds in the first four minutes, including a putback during that early burst.
The Celtics had less success from long range, however. Seventeen of their 23 first-quarter shots were 3-pointers, and they connected on just four.
Brown had a scorching start from the arc this season, but he followed up his 0 for 2 performance against the Rockets on Saturday by going 0 for 5 in the first half Monday, wiping away some of his favorable early results.
The Jazz got back into the game with their work in the paint. Walter Clayton found Taylor Hendricks cutting through the lane for a dunk that tied the score at 27 with 8:18 left in the second quarter and led to a Boston timeout.
The respite seemed to be helpful. The Celtics regained control with a 16-2 flurry that was sparked by an energized defense. Queta bothered Jazz star Lauri Markkanen inside and out. He challenged him at the rim and forced a tough, contested 2-pointer that was not close.
Finally, White smothered Keyonte George’s pull-up jumper, forcing a shot-clock violation that was one of Utah’s 10 first-half turnovers. The Celtics took a 46-36 lead to halftime despite making just 7 of 27 3-pointers. The Jazz were 15 for 48 from the field (31.3 percent).
Still, the Jazz lingered, and with no player on either team seizing control in the first half, there was an opening for one surge to flip things fairly quickly. Then George stepped forward.
He hit three acrobatic layups before drilling a 3-pointer in the left corner with 3:29 left in the third quarter — part of his 16-point flurry — to give Utah a 66-61 lead, its largest. Meanwhile, the Celtics’ 3-point woes continued.
They were just 1 for 10 from long range in the quarter, dropping them to 8 for 38 in the game, and the Jazz took a 74-72 lead to the fourth.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.