As the old saying goes, “Three heads are better than two.”
The dynamic duo of Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, along with the rest of the short-handed Jazz, gave the Boston Celtics all they could handle. In the end, though, Boston’s “Big Three” proved too much to handle in a thrilling 104-98 victory for the Celtics.
After three quarters, the Jazz (16-16) and the Celtics (25-3) were tied and headed for a game that would that would go down to the wire — an all-too-familiar situation for Utah, which has lost 11 of 14 in the month of December, and nine of those losses by eight points or less.
Afterward, some might have mistaken the Jazz locker room for a morgue as the players were handed just their third home loss of the season.
“It’s been a tough month,” Jazz guard Ronnie Brewer said. “We just gotta find a way to win, but I don’t know what it is.”
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan had a few ideas on why his club struggled down the stretch.
“What hurt us is the five turnovers in the fourth quarter,” Sloan said. “Turnovers are going to kill you in that situation.”
Utah suffered a stretch of a minute and a half with three turnovers early in the final quarter. The most costly of Utah’s miscues, however, came within the final three minutes when the score was tied 95-95. Celtics guard Rajon Rondo stole the ball from a streaking Williams and Boston’s Ray Allen quickly capitalized with a 3-pointer.
The Jazz committed eight fouls in the final quarter. As a result, the Celtics sank nine of 12 free throws.
“You gotta go after them and lay it all out,” Sloan continued. “You don’t want to put them on the free-throw line where they kill you.”
After a scoreless first half, Boston’s Paul Pierce collected himself and scored 10 points in less than four minutes to open the second half. He then proceeded to score 14 of the Celtics’ final 21 points — including a critical baseline drive past Brewer that put his team up 100-98 with 28 seconds remaining.
“Paul did what he does,” Celtics guard Eddie House said. “He got it going so it’s like we gotta milk the cow. We kept going to him and he put us on his back and that’s why they pay him the big bucks.”
Pierce finished with a game-high 24 points after going scoreless in the first half.
“I was really mad at myself at the half,” Pierce said. “I just needed to be a little more aggressive. I wanted to give us a spark in the second half.”
A contrite Brewer took the blame on his shoulders despite not getting help defense for Pierce’s drive that put the Celtics up for good.
“I’m a good defender. (Pierce) just had a better move and he finished,” Brewer said. “I could’ve made him take a tougher shot. I just made a mistake.”
Boston’s other two all-stars — Allen and Kevin Garnett — finished with 23 and 15 points, respectively.
Boozer and Williams each contributed a double-double, with Williams scoring 22 and dishing 11 while Boozer chipped in 19 points with 11 rebounds. Four others on the Jazz — who only dressed nine players — scored in double figures.
Despite another tough loss, Sloan remains optimistic.
“When you get into tough situations, you find out who we really are,” the coach said. “I’m real proud of the fact that we played hard after a tough game (against the Lakers on Friday night), where we got walloped.”
The Jazz might well be looking forward to the next game against Portland. It’s the last one in December. [email protected]
Lennie MahlerMehmet Okur leaves the floor as the Utah Jazz suffer another disappointing loss in December. The Jazz are just 5-11 during the month
Lennie MahlerPaul Pierce scores two of his 24 points-all or which came in the second half-to lead the Celtics to a 104-98 win over the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena