The Jazz came into Boston on a roll—that is, they’d been losing all of their most important games to the most important teams. Evidently, Danny Ainge was feeling good about that, plus a game against a non-tanking team, as Colin Sexton and John Collins got the starting nod.
1st Quarter
The game started fairly evenly, as the Jazz defense forced the Celtics into ill-advised shots, and the offense presented a balanced attack.
Svi Mykhailiuk tied the score at 13 with 6 minutes to go in the first with a tough midrange shot, which was quickly answered on the Celtics end by Jaylen Brown. The teams traded buckets for the next few minutes, and by the 2:45 mark the Celtics were up by one. The big difference maker to this point was cold shooting by both teams from deep—the Jazz went 0-7 and the Celtics 2-8. Kyle Filipowski, Brice Sensabaugh, and KJ Martin checked in, Colin Sexton hit the first Jazz 3-pointer of the game, and the Jazz went up by a bucket with two minutes left. A pair of Jazz turnovers meant that the lead was short-lived. The Celtics second-unit, including former Utah State Aggie standout Neemias Queta, picked up a quick five points, swinging the game back Boston’s way. They were looking for more, but a successful challenge by Coach Hardy on a dubious out-of-bounds call gave Utah the ball with 10 seconds remaining in the period. Walker Kessler scored inside with 0.2 seconds remaining, cutting the deficit to one once again.
2nd Quarter
The teams traded blows to open the second frame, headlined by Derrick White and Kyle Filipowski, but both teams started laying bricks, with no scoring by either team for nearly two minutes following a layup by Queta.
The drought continued out of the timeout, until Derrick White drilled one from downtown at the 6:19 mark, followed by a layup, growing the Celtics lead to 7. John Collins stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer of his own long two. A Jaylen Brown turnover led to an Isaiah Collier layup on the break, Boston answered with another Derrick White three, and Walker split a pair of free throws, cutting the deficit to 5 once more. A smooth Collins-to-Sexton layup drove a Celtics timeout with under two minutes left, and the Jazz continued to hang around, down just four.
Jaylen Brown went on a 5-0 run by himself in the span of about 30 seconds, but was quickly answered by a triple courtesy of Colin Sexton. Walker “blocker” Kessler shut down any Boston hopes of a big lead going into halftime. Instead, they had to settle for a six-point lead, 53-47.
3rd Quarter
The third quarter opened with missed shots on good looks for the Celtics and missed shots on bad looks by the Jazz. Daniel Hauser drew first blood with a pair of triples, Jaylen Brown scored on a fast break, and the Celtics took their largest lead of the night at 61-49 with about 9 minutes left. The Jazz fought back with a 4-0 mini run, and Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla called timeout in an attempt to prevent things from getting out of hand. It worked, as Hauser hit a three and Luke Kornet hit a pair of free-throws to put the lead back at 12.
The Jazz caught the turnover bug, totaling 8 to Boston’s 0, and Will Hardy called timeout after yet another Hauser three-pointer, ballooning the Celtics lead to 17. Neemias Queta capped an 18-4 run, and the rout was on. Brice Sensabaugh hit a three to cut the deficit to 20 points with a minute to go, bringing Utah’s total to 4 makes from deep, but it was quickly answered by the 76th triple of the night by Hauser. (Okay, his 8th, but still)
4th Quarter
Brice Sensabaugh unassumingly started the quarter, hitting two more threes to “chip away,” as Thurl said. Chipping away quickly became eliminating the Boston lead with a battle axe, led by Brice, who would finish the quarter with 17 points, as the Jazz put together an 14-3 run. The Celtics, despite emptying their bench, kept the Jazz at arm’s length—until they didn’t. At the 7-minute mark, the Jazz cut the deficit to single-digits. Not too long afterwards, the Jazz capped a 24-7 run on a smooth midrange jumper by Sensabaugh, cutting the lead to six. John Collins cut it to two at the 3:47 mark, and Boler declared it a “buckle-up night—” which it certainly was for tank proponents everywhere—as Walker Kessler tied the game at 103. A Celtic free throw followed by a three-pointer off a missed second attempt gave them some breathing room, but an iffy shooting foul called on Jaylen Brown put Isaiah Collier at the charity stripe, who split the trip.
Then Brown dunked all over Walker Kessler, the Jazz suffered a turnover, and that was, effectively, the end of buckle-up night. One wonders what might have been had Brice Sensabaugh had a few more heatchecks, but it was far better for the future of the team to ease up. Overall, it was a good night for the tank, with the young guys continuing to show promise, yet going home with the loss.
who knew i would be watching b sensabaugh vs sam hauser today
— ||GreatValue|| (@AgreatvalueDude) March 11, 2025
Notes:
Next up, the tank barrels back to Salt Lake City for a battle against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.
Right after the Jazz wrapped up at TD Garden, the Hornets completed a comeback against he reeling Miami Heat, tying them with Utah in the win column: (via tankathon)