The Celtics continue their home stand as they host the Utah Jazz for the first of 2 games between them this season. They will face off again in Utah on March 21. The Celtics won the series 2-0 last season. The Celtics are 62-46 overall, all time against the Jazz and they are 39-15 in games played in Boston. The Jazz are playing on the second night of back to back games, having played in Philadelphia on Sunday night.
The Jazz had a busy off season without doing a lot. They traded Kris Dunn to the Clippers for Russell Westbrook, who was then waived. They signed Drew Eubanks, Svi Mykhailiuk and Patty Mills and then traded Mills and Eubanks for Mo Bamba and PJ Tucker, both of whom were waived. They also waived Darius Bazley and Omer Yurtseven. Of course Danny Ainge got draft considerations in each of those deals. They signed draft pick Kyle Filipowski. They recently signed former Celtic Jaden Springer to a multiyear contract and they signed Anton Watson to a 10 day contract and then waived him. They also received draft picks for facilitating the Luka/AD trade.
The Celtics are 2nd in the East, and are 8 games behind the first place Cavaliers who have won their last 14 games, including a win over Boston. They are 5.5 games ahead of 3rd place New York, who lost to these Lakers in LA on Thursday. They are 9.5 games ahead of 4th place Milwaukee. The Celtics are 22-11 at home and 8-2 in their last 10 games. They are 14-7 against Western Conference opponents. The Celtics have won their last 4 games.
The Utah Jazz are 15th in the West, 38 games behind first place Oklahoma City. They are 1.5 games behind 14th place New Orleans and 12 games behind 13th place San Antonio. They have no hope of making the play-in as they are 16 games behind 10th place Dallas. The Jazz are 7-25 on the road and 2-8 in their last 10 games. They are 8-13 against Eastern Conference opponents. They have lost their last 5 games.
The Celtics are playing in the 6th game of a 7 game home stand. They lost the first game to the Cleveland Cavaliers and then beat the Denver Nuggets, Portland Trailblazers, 76ers and Lakers in the next 4 games. After this game against the Jazz, the Celtics will close out the home stand against Oklahoma City. After the 7 game home stand they play at Miami before a home and home set against Brooklyn. They then have a 6 game Western road trip through Utah, Portland, Sacramento, Phoenix, San Antonio and Memphis. They play 5 of their last 7 games at home.
Utah is playing in the 4th game of a 5 game road trip. They started the trip out with losses at Washington and Toronto before losing in Philadelphia on Sunday. They will finish the trip in Memphis on Wednesday. After a game at home against Toronto, they will play at Minnesota and then head home for a 6 game home stand against Chicago, Washington, Boston, Cleveland, Memphis and Houston. 6 of their last 8 games will be on the road.
As with most of the games recently, it’s hard to tell who will be out and who will play. The Celtics have 4 on the injury list as of now. After starting on Thursday, Drew Peterson is listed as out for this game due to a thigh injury. Kristaps Porzingis has gone through practice and warm up, but is doubtful for this game and will will likely a sixth straight game with an unknown illness.
Al Horford is questionable with a toe injury after playing 37 minutes on Saturday. Jayson Tatum played 45 minutes on Saturday and is questionable due to right knee tendinopathy. I’m going to guess that Luke Kornet starts at center but not sure who would start if Tatum doesn’t play. I wouldn’t be surprised to see other players pop up on the injury list at the last minute as well.
The Jazz had 9 players out for Wednesday’s game against the 76ers. These 9 are questionable for this game. Walker Kessler was out for rest due to playing back to back and will likely play in this game. Jordan Clarkson has missed 6 games with plantar fasciitis and is questionable for this game. Taylor Hendricks is out with a leg injury. Lauri Markkanen has missed 8 games with a back injury and is questionable.
Jaden Springer has missed 3 games and is questionable with a back injury. Oscar Tshiebwe is questionable with an illness. Collin Sexton is questionable due to ankle injury management. EJ Harkless is questionable with a groin injury. John Collins has missed 5 games and is questionable with a back injury. It’s hard to tell who will play and who will start for the Jazz. I’ve listed the starters from their game notes, but Kessler and Sexton are both questionable.
Probable Celtics Starters
PG: Jrue Holiday
SG: Derrick White
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Luke Kornet
Celtics Reserves
Payton Pritchard
Neemias Queta
Baylor Scheierman
Jordan Walsh
Xavier Tillman
Sam Hauser
Torrey Craig
2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Miles Norris
Injuries/Out
Drew Peterson (thigh) out
Kristaps Porzingis (illness) doubtful
Al Horford (toe) questionable
Jayson Tatum (knee) questionable
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
Probable Jazz Starters
PG: Isaiah Collier
SG: Collin Sexton
SF: Bruce Sensabaugh
PF: KJ Martin
C: Walker Kessler
Jazz Reserves
Kyle Filipowski
Keyonte George
Johnny Juzang
Svi Mykhailiuk
Cody Williams
Two-Way Players
Elijah Harkless
Micah Potter
Oscar Tshiebwe
Injuries/Out
Taylor Hendricks (leg) out
Jordan Clarkson (foot) questionable
John Collins (back) questionable
Lauri Markkanen (back) questionable
Jaden Springer (back) questionable
Oscar Tshiebwe (illness) questionable
Elijah Harkless (groin) questionable
Walker Kessler (rest) questionable
Collin Sexton (ankle) questionable
Head Coach
Will Hardy
Key Matchups
Derrick White vs Collin Sexton
Sexton is averaging 18.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 4.0 assists. He is shooting 47.4% from the field and 40.3% from beyond the arc. This will be a good matchup assuming that both White and Sexton play in this one. If Sexton is out, Johnny Juzang may get the start in his place.
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Luke Kornet
Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images
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Walker Kessler
Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images
Luke Kornet vs Walker Kessler
Kessler has been one of the bright spots for the Jazz in an otherwise tough season. Kessler is averaging 11.6 points, 12.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.4 blocks per game. He is shooting 72.7% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc. The Celtics need to keep Kessler off the boards and away from the paint.
Honorable Mention
Joe Mazzulla vs Will Hardy
Just 3 seasons ago, both Mazzulla and Hardy were assistant coaches to Ime Udoka in Boston. Both are now head coaches and among the youngest and brightest coaches in the league. Mazzulla has won the last 3 games between these two teams.
Keys to the Game
Defense – Defense is the key to winning each and every game. The Celtics are 5th in the league with a defensive rating of 110.1 while the Jazz are 29th with a defensive rating of 118.4. The Celtics are 6th in points per game with 117.0 while the Jazz are 19th with 112.4 points per game. The Jazz are 8th with 39.2 three pointers attempted per game so the Celtics need to play good perimeter defense. The Celtics must continue to make defense a priority in this, and every, game.
Rebound – Much of rebounding is effort and when the Celtics put out that effort on the boards, we see it in the other areas of their game. The Celtics are averaging 45.0 rebounds per game (11th) while the Jazz are averaging 45.9 rebounds per game, which is 4th in the league. The Jazz are 8th with 15.0 second chance points per game and the Celtics must have every player fight for rebounds to limit those 2nd chance points. If the Celtics want to win this game they need to crash the boards and out-rebound the Jazz.
Don’t Underestimate – The Jazz have been pretty bad this season and will likely be sitting key players once again. They have a lot of motivation to lose since they can’t make the play in and losing can improve their draft pick. However, never underestimate a team’s hatred of the Celtics. It seems that every team, even the tanking teams get up to play the Celtics and give it their best effort, especially young teams. I expect the Jazz to play hard and give it their best to try to beat the Celtics. The Celtics can’t take them for granted and need to come in with maximum effort for 48 minutes.
Be Aggressive – The Celtics must be the more aggressive team. They have to be aggressive in going to the basket, in diving for loose balls, and on defense. They have to aggressively crash the boards. They have to be the team that wants it more. In most of their losses, they have allowed their opponents to play harder and be more aggressive. They absolutely can’t let the Jazz play harder than them if they want to have a chance to win.
X-Factors
Home Court Advantage – The Celtics are home once again and they need to take pride in defending their home court. They have the crowd behind them and haven’t had to travel for awhile now. The Jazz are on the road for the 4th of 5 straight road games in the East. They have a hostile crowd and an unfamiliar court along with the distractions of travel.
Officiating – Officiating is always an x-factor. Will they let them play or will they call every ticky tack foul? Will they favor the home team or call it evenly? We never know what any given crew will do. The Celtics need to stay focused and not allow bad calls or lack of calls take away their focus on playing the game the right way.
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