The unhealthy: Derrick White tried 10 3-pointers in Tuesday’s matchup with the Jazz and made simply two of them.
The great: nearly all the things else in regards to the Celtics guard’s newest outing.
White completed with 27 factors, seven rebounds, six assists and a staggering seven blocks as Boston beat Utah, 129-119, on the Delta Middle. He grew to become the primary guard in NBA historical past to publish these numbers in a single recreation, along with his career-high seven rejections tying the recorded NBA document for his place.
Lengthy considered the league’s premier backcourt shot-blocker, White has swatted apart 289 pictures during the last 4 seasons, 57 greater than second-place Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and greater than 100 greater than every other guard. However even he sounded stunned by Tuesday’s tour de drive.
“I don’t know,” White advised NBC Sports activities Boston sideline reporter Abby Chin after the sport. “I’m attempting to assist us win any approach I can, and that’s form of a loopy one. That’s form of loopy, yeah. I don’t know what to say.”
On the different finish, White was excellent from 2-point vary (6-for-6) and from the foul line (9-for-9). Twenty-two of his factors got here within the second half.
“I ended capturing threes,” he advised Chin. “Simply form of received to the midrange, received to the free-throw line and all the things began opening up from there.”
Teammate Jaylen Brown couldn’t lengthen his streak of 9 consecutive 30-point video games — tied with Larry Fowl for the longest in franchise historical past — however he was productive nonetheless, scoring 23 with 10 assists, six rebounds and two steals.
Anfernee Simons added 20-5-4 off the bench in one in every of his greatest all-around video games as a Celtic, and Payton Pritchard completed with 18 factors. Like White, Pritchard struggled from deep (1-for-7) however was 7-for-8 from 2-point vary.
Utah received large video games from Keyonte George (37 factors, seven assists, six rebounds) and Jusuf Nurkic (26-8-8), who each have been instrumental within the Jazz’s upset victory at TD Garden on Nov. 3. However the Celtics pulled forward late within the third quarter and by no means trailed within the fourth.
The Celtics will proceed their season-long five-game highway journey Thursday in Sacramento, the place they’ll face the Kings on New 12 months’s Day (10 p.m. ET).
Boston fell behind by double digits within the first quarter for the third time in 4 video games. Throughout one particularly messy sequence for the slow-starting Celtics, George went down beneath the basket with an obvious harm, and the C’s didn’t capitalize on consecutive 5-on-4 possessions.
Each of these really led to fast-break buckets for Utah’s Lauri Markkanen, triggering a timeout from a pissed off Joe Mazzulla. George additionally remained within the recreation and scored 15 of the Jazz’s 38 first-quarter factors.
The Celtics recovered after that stoppage, boosted by the insertion of Luka Garza. Forged out for a lot of December, the backup heart has been constantly productive since rejoining Mazzulla’s rotation final weekend. He scored eight factors in 5 first-quarter minutes towards Utah, hitting a 3-pointer and changing two pictures on the rim off well-timed feeds from Brown, the second of which drew a foul.
One other Garza triple capped an 18-2 Celtics run that stretched into the second quarter and put Boston forward 49-40. Fellow reserves Simons, Sam Hauser and Hugo Gonzalez additionally made threes through the rally, with Gonzalez banking his in off the backboard.
Garza completed with 15 factors on 6-of-8 capturing, six rebounds, one steal and one block within the win. He was a plus-13 in his 19 minutes, second-best on the group behind Simons’ plus-26. Each have been plus/minus and web ranking darlings of late.
Simons leads all NBA gamers in plus/minus because the begin of December.
“I believed Ant was nice as we speak on each ends of the ground,” Mazzulla advised reporters in his postgame information convention. “… After we get that model of him, it makes us a special group.”
Boston’s starters, nevertheless, initially struggled to keep up that momentum.
Brown, White and Pritchard all shot the ball poorly within the first half, going a mixed 7-for-23 and 2-for-12 from past the arc. On the different finish, George stayed piping scorching. The 22-year-old poured in 23 first-half factors — together with a spinning, off-balance, in-the-corner 3-pointer over tight protection from White — to gas a 22-5 Jazz response.
That run additionally featured the one blemish in White’s banner night time as a rim protector: Jazz rookie Walter Clayton Jr., who had dunked simply as soon as in his younger NBA profession, hit White with a posterization that appeared to shock even the Utah bench.
“I’ve received to look at the scouting report, I’ve received to speak to the coaches, as a result of that was positively not in there,” White advised Chin. “I didn’t know he had it like that. In order that was positively stunning, but it surely’s a part of the sport.”
Utah led 64-59 at half, however the third quarter was a a lot stronger offensive show from Boston’s high unit. The Celtics received factors on 9 of their first 10 possessions of the second half, with each starter scoring at the very least as soon as throughout that stretch. Pritchard totaled 9 factors within the quarter, working the midrange as he has so successfully this season, and White hit a go-ahead straightaway 3-pointer to snap an 0-for-7 begin from deep.
Brown created White’s wide-open look by drawing three Jazz defenders on a drive and kicking the ball out to his veteran teammate. He additionally assisted on each of Simons’ third-quarter 3-pointers, which helped energy a 9-0 Celtics run. By the point the quarter ended, Brown already had compiled his second-highest help whole of the season. He completed one shy of his season and profession excessive of 11.
The Celtics closed the third with a flourish. Gonzalez botched a rebound beneath the Utah basket however redeemed himself by instantly drawing a cost. Moments later, Simons raced for a 2-for-1 layup, and Brown adopted with a steal and a end to place Boston up 99-96 heading into the fourth.
A string of Celtics fouls put Utah within the bonus with 8:34 left in regulation, however White stored Boston in command. With Brown on the bench, his co-star scored 11 factors in six minutes and blocked his sixth shot of the night time. White added his seventh within the ultimate minutes.
Solely San Antonio Spurs famous person Victor Wembanyama, whose listed peak is a foot taller than the 6-foot-4 White, has blocked extra pictures in a recreation this season. 4 different guards have totaled seven blocks because the NBA started monitoring the stat in 1973-74, most just lately Tracy McGrady in 2000.
Brown checked again in with 5:21 to play and buried three robust midrange jumpers — together with one over the 7-foot-1 Markkanen — to place the sport away.
With the win, the Celtics rebounded from their turnover-filled loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday and improved to 10-3 of their final 13 video games. Their 20-12 document is third-best within the Jap Convention, trailing solely the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks.
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