Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 114-108 loss to the Boston Celtics from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.
1. Jazz push Celtics to typical 4th-quarter collapse
The Celtics are the defending NBA champions, and yet they have a very unchampion-like tendency: losing significant leads, especially at home.
It was the case for them the last few seasons, and it’s been the case for them recently. Tonight, it was the lowly Utah Jazz coming back from down 24 points to tie the game, before the Celtics snapped control back with a 9-1 run in the final minutes. But nearly the same thing happened in their game against the Lakers on Saturday night, and they suffered rough comebacks against Philadelphia, Denver, and Cleveland too. (The Cleveland game they actually lost.)
It turns out that you can win a title despite this tendency, just as you can maintain a 47-18 record. I suspect a good deal of what’s going on with the Celtics' tendency to lose leads is simply 3-point variance.
After all, the Celtics lead the NBA in 3-point shooting, taking 53% of their shots from behind the 3-point line. Sometimes, that leads to massive runs, like what we saw from Sam Hauser in making seven threes in the third quarter, the period that ultimately sunk the Utah Jazz. But sometimes, the shots go cold, or they go warm for your opponent, or both.
In the fourth, the Jazz shot 8-9 from deep, while the Cs went 3-13. Comeback city. Give significant credit to Brice Sensabaugh there for most of that scoring load, as he scored 17 in the fourth.
In the end, both teams shot 34% from deep; the Celtics simply took more of the threes.
I wonder to what degree Will Hardy’s ideal Jazz team would take threes. The Jazz currently rank seventh in the NBA in 3-point percentage, taking 44% of their shots from deep. (They rank 17th in actually making those threes, while 18th from 2-point range.) Of course, Hardy was part of the Celtics' staff, but they didn’t really start taking oodles of threes until after Hardy left to coach the Jazz. (Hardy’s Finals Celtics team took the eighth most threes in the league that year.)
In the end, both teams got what they wanted — the Celtics got the win, and the Jazz scored a close loss.
2. Walker Kessler, iso D
Walker Kessler found himself out on the perimeter more often than usual tonight, as the Jazz tried to slow down the Celtics' drive-and-kick game by switching. I think what we saw was a mixed bag of good and bad.
This is the play you’ll see on highlight reels:
There’s a lot Kessler does right here. That he moves his body so well and meets Brown at the rim is great, and not many players could finish that play over Kessler. That Brown did is a sign of his strength and skill — but also, those are the kinds of players Kessler might find himself isolated on late in games if the Jazz ever make the playoffs.
The one thing I will say, though, is he’s gotta shade Jaylen Brown left. Brown is famously iffy with his left hand but elite with his right, and Kessler’s shading him right all the way.
This one is a little better:
Kessler stays in front, but doesn’t contest the shot much either. That being said, you can see why — if he’s not rebounding down low, the Jazz are in trouble down there, and Luke Kornet manhandles Sensabaugh to get the board and seal the game.
And this was his best effort — staying in front of Brown, and also significantly contesting the midranger:
We know what happens if Kessler proves not to develop in this space — he won’t be able to play against certain opponents in the biggest moments. Being able to do well enough in these perimeter isolation situations is huge for his playoff future.
3. Developing role talent
An underrated key to the success of the best teams in the NBA: cultivating killer role-playing talent out of nothing.
The three best teams are the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Boston Celtics, right? Well, a quick list of selected major role players and how they were acquired:
OKC
• Lu Dort went undrafted, then signed a two-way with the Thunder.
• Isaiah Joe was waived by Philadelphia in October of 2022 and the Thunder picked him up days later.
• Aaron Wiggins was drafted with the 55th pick, made into a two-way player, then finally two years later got a standard contract.
Cleveland
• Ty Jerome was waived by the Rockets, signed a one-year deal with the Warriors, waived by them, then picked up by Cleveland.
• Sam Merrill was the 60th pick, then waived by the Grizzlies and Kings before signing with Cleveland.
• Dean Wade was a two-way guy converted into a standard contract.
Boston
• Sam Hauser (career-high 33 points tonight) was a two-way guy converted into a standard deal.
• Luke Kornet was signed by the Knicks, then the Bulls, then traded to the Celtics, then the Cs waived him. He signed a 10-day with the Cavs, then Bucks, then finally the Celtics gave him another chance.
• Neemias Queta was the 39th pick, then waived by the Kings. He then signed a two-way with the Celtics, before getting converted to a standard contract last year.
This is the definition of picking up pennies off the sidewalk. All of these guys could have been had by any team in the NBA at various points, but the Thunder, Cavaliers, and Celtics were the ones who identified their useful NBA talents and rounded out their games so that they’re among their teams' most important players.
For every single one of the guys I mentioned, their teams aren’t just surviving when they’re on the floor, they’re thriving. Every one of their teams has a net rating jump when they’re on the floor compared to when they’re off of it.
Still to be determined if the Jazz can do this — but if they can, it’d be a major boost to their chances.
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