Key Moment
After scoring 140 points in a 41-point beatdown of the Milwaukee Bucks Thursday night, the Boston Celtics still had enough in the tank to take out the Utah Jazz back at home 24 hours later.
The C’s poured 122 points into the scoring column to Utah’s 114 and their most impactful spurt came right out of halftime.
Leading 57-51 out of the break, Boston emerged on an 8-0 run in a span of just 61 seconds to more than double their lead to 14 points.
Blake Griffin sparked the scoring spurt with a fast-break dunk. That was followed by a Marcus Smart 3-pointer from the left wing, and then that was followed by a Jayson Tatum triple from the same spot. Eight points all coming in a span of just three possessions.
The Celtics would go up by as many as 17 points before closing out with an eight-point victory over the Jazz – their second win in as many nights.
Key Player
Jayson Tatum in the last 24 hours has made NBA history in more ways than one.
After scoring 40 points in a turnover-free game against the Milwaukee Bucks Thursday night, he nearly mimicked the feat Friday night with a 39-point turnover-less performance against the Utah Jazz.
It made him the first player in NBA history to score at least 39 points in consecutive games without committing a turnover.
But that’s not all. It was also the second straight game in which he scored at least 39 points while attempting 18 or fewer field-goal attempts. Thursday night, he dropped 40 on 18 shot attempts and Friday night his 39 points came on just 17 attempts, giving him 79 points on 35 field-goal attempts combined.
Only one player in NBA history has ever scored more points on fewer field-goal attempts over a two-game span, and that was Joel Embiied (80 points, 34 field-goal attempts) in January of 2021.
Tatum’s 12-of-17 effort Friday night included a 5-of-8 clip from 3-point range and he also made 10-of-11 from the free-throw line. On top of that, he grabbed 11 rebounds, handed out three assists, and snagged three steals in 36 minutes of action.
Box Score Nuggets
- Jayson Tatum logged a game-high 39 points while not committing a turnover.
- Blake Griffin grabbed a game-high 12 boards in his first double-digit rebounding game since 11/7/21.
- Five of Griffin's rebounds were grabbed on the offensive end, amounting to half of his team's total offensive boards.
- Both teams missed just one free-throw apiece: Boston shot 21-of-22 and Utah shot 13-of-14.
- Talen Horton-Tucker led the Jazz with 28 points.
- Former Celtic Kelly Olynyk tallied eight points and eight rebounds.
- Malcolm Brogdon tied for the game-high in assists with seven off the bench.
- Brogdon also had the second-highest scoring total for the C's with 19 points.
- Derrick White logged a game-best plus-16 in 29 minutes.
- Tatum snagged as many steals (three) as the entire Jazz team.
Quote of the Night
“I knew what I was going to get (out of the team) tonight. I trusted our guys. I knew we were going to be really competitive.”
– Joe Mazzulla on Boston securing its second win in two nights