Boston Celtics strike late to edge out Utah Jazz 98-93: NBA Recap
Paul Pierce scored 23 points; Jeff Green and Leandro Barbosa both came off the bench to add 16 points and the Boston Celtics won 98-93 over the Utah Jazz here at the TD Garden on Wednesday night, for their third
straight win.
Celtics’ bench scored 47 of their team’s 98 points on the night in a hard fought win. They missed the services of their play maker Rajon Rondo for the final 17 minutes, as he walked out of the court with a sprained
right ankle. Despite playing for only 25 minutes he managed to make it his 32nd consecutive game with 10 assists or more.
"Our whole bench gave us a big lift tonight. It was a big win; they really helped carry us through this game." Pierce said post game.
For Jazz, Paul Millsap scored a double-double as he collected 20 points and 12 rebounds. Gordon Hayward, Maurice Williams and Derrick Favors all posted 14 points while Al Jefferson scored 13 points and grabbed
14 rebounds for the Jazz.
Utah Jazz started off well and were up 10-6 early with a Millsap layup, and extended their lead to 17-10 when Maurice Williams dropped down a three pointer. Later on, Jeff Green tipped one in for the Celtics
to leave them trailing at16-19. Both teams got a flurry of free throws near the end of the period and Jazz were up 25-20 by the end of it.
Barbosa scored 5 quick points for the Celtics to tie the score at the start of the second period. Few minutes later, two free throws by Jeff Green put the Boston up 32-30. Celtics were looking good as they were
up 44-39 at one stage before a Williams shot from downtown kicked off a 7-0 run for the Jazz that snatched the lead from the Celtics. Jazz went into halftime leading 46-44.
Pierce made a jump shot just 17 seconds into the second half to tie the score immediately. It could had been anybody’s game in the third period as both teams exchanged lead a quite many times. Pierce nailed in
a three pointer to put the Celtics up 54-51 before Jazz went for a 7-nil scoring spree to snatch the lead again, going up 58-54. Pierce fired two back to back three pointers to put the Celtics up by 60-58 at that point and turn the flow of the game.
Boston were up 68-60 three minutes from the end of the period before Jazz cut the deficit down to 70-73 going into the final quarter.
The big game experience by the Celtics was the prime reason they were able to close out the game in the final quarter. Celtics were up 84-78 early on in the period but the Jazz fought back as they tied the score
at 93 two minutes from the end. However, they could score no more as Celtics dropped the final 5 points to close the game at 98-93.
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