Boston Celtics

Utah Jazz vs. Boston Celtics: Keys to the Game

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:54 p.m. ET

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Jan 3, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Utah Jazz guard / forward Joe Johnson (6) drives against Boston Celtics forward / center Amir Johnson (90) during the fourth quarter at TD Garden. The Boston Celtics won 115-104. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

The Utah Jazz will look to avenge themselves against a tough Boston Celtics team tonight in the first game of a three-game home stand.

Although the sentiment surrounding tonight’s game against the Boston Celtics would be a lot brighter for the Utah Jazz if they were still riding high on a multiple-game winning streak and looking at a chance to finish the week undefeated, there’s no questioning that it’s still an important and highly anticipated contest.

Make no mistake about it, Thursday’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks stung. It was one of Utah’s worst collapses of the season and a significantly blown opportunity if the team hopes to close the distance between themselves and the third place Houston Rockets.

Nevertheless, with the Boston Celtics – the second best team in the Eastern Conference – coming into town tonight, the Utah Jazz have a chance to leave that defeat well behind them and bounce back in a big way.

The Celtics have turned it on of late going 15-5 over their last 20 games which included a seven-game winning streak at the end of January and start of February. Not to mention, one of those early January wins during that 20-game stint came against none other than the Utah Jazz.

In what was the second game of a tough East Coast road trip for the Jazz and the second night of a back-to-back, the Celtics proved too much and led nearly the entire way. Each time the Jazz looked like they were about to make a push, Boston continually found a way to answer back.

It was one of many examples this season of the Jazz failing to step up against one of the league’s best. Prior to the recent win over the Hawks, Utah’s last win against a playoff team came on January 21st against the Indiana Pacers, so they’ll need to look to change that trend tonight.

If they do so, they’ll need to put together the kind of complete game we saw them post in the recent wins over Atlanta and New Orleans and play a much improved brand of basketball from both the second half in Thursday’s loss to Dallas and the earlier loss in Boston. Taking care of business in the following key areas will be crucial to ensure that they accomplish just that.

Jan 3, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas (4) smiles after a basket during the fourth quarter against the Utah Jazz at TD Garden. The Boston Celtics won 115-104. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Key Match-up – George Hill and Isaiah Thomas

Any Jazz fan can tell you that this Utah team is leaps and bounds better with George Hill on the floor. In fact, with him in action the Jazz are an impressive 22-7 (.759) this season, while without him they’re just 12-13.

If Utah could have maintained that win percentage with Hill in action over the course of the season, they would currently be in third place in the West, just a half-game behind the Spurs

He’s been the driving force of their offense as well as the calming and reliable presence during late game situations. His presence was without a doubt severely missed on Thursday as Quin Snyder was forced to close the game without a true point guard on the floor due to the absolute unreliability of Hill’s backups.

Therefore, his return to action tonight after resting with a sore toe should provide Utah with a critical lift, especially as he’ll be paired up against one of the most prolific offensive point guards in the NBA in Isaiah Thomas.

Despite his five-foot-nine stature, Thomas has proven in every way this season that he is without a doubt an All-Star. He’s averaging 29.9 points per game on 46.6 percent shooting from the field and 37.9 percent from deep and has been unbelievably clutch for the Celtics in the most critical of moments.

Thus it will be up to George Hill to slow him down defensively and help take out the main cog in Boston’s offense. The Celtics do have several weapons around Thomas and he’s obviously a capable passer at 6.3 assists per game, but throwing Hill’s length at Thomas should be a great way to keep him in check.

Luckily, while Thomas is an incredible scorer, his lack of size does limit him somewhat on the defensive end, so the hope would be that Hill, despite averaging about 12 points per game less than Thomas, can rely heavily on his impeccable defense and thus keep pace with Isaiah in the points category.

If Hill can do that while frustrating Thomas on defense, forcing him into tough passes and an inefficient shooting night, the Jazz may very well get their revenge against an upstart Celtics team.

Jan 3, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Utah Jazz point guard Shelvin Mack (8) drives against Boston Celtics forward / center Al Horford (42) during the third quarter at TD Garden. The Boston Celtics won 115-104. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Key Stat – Assists

The last time these two squads faced off, the Jazz actually shot very well from the three-point line at 42.3 percent. However, it wasn’t nearly enough to match that of the red hot Celtics who simply could not miss as they finished the game with 17 made threes at a scorching 54.8 percent clip from deep.

However, perhaps more impressive than that sky high percentage was the way the Celtics were creating those looks. Their offense was flowing in every way, the ball was moving well and Boston was able to finish the game with 31 assists. Isaiah Thomas alone logged a career-high 15 of those.

As was mentioned in the key match-up, he’ll be in for quite a challenge if he hopes to do that against the length of George Hill, but regardless of what the end result is for him individually, the Jazz have to match Boston’s offensive energy from that last game, move the ball and come out on top in the assist battle this time around.

The Jazz logged some incredible assist numbers in their wins against Atlanta and New Orleans, with 31 and 25, respectively. It looked like they would do the same initially against Dallas, but despite logging 26 assists for the game, unfortunately the offense went extremely stagnant from the middle of the third quarter on.

There will be no room for stagnation tonight against a daunting Boston Celtics team who is third in the league in assists per game, thus hopefully the Jazz will reach an assist number closer to what we saw in this week’s earlier contests. If they bring that energy and move the ball well enough to do so, they are plenty capable of coming away victorious.

Jan 3, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Utah Jazz guard / forward Gordon Hayward (20) takes a shot while guarded by Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas (4) and forward Jae Crowder (99) during the third quarter at TD Garden. The Boston Celtics won 115-104. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Key Performer – Gordon Hayward

After the recent comments of Celtics small forward Jae Crowder regarding Boston fans cheering for Gordon Hayward the last time the Jazz were in town, it would have been exciting to see how these two players would have matched up against one another. However, as our very own Zachary Padmore reported earlier today, Crowder will in fact be sidelined for tonight’s bout along with Avery Bradley.

I would have picked Hayward as the key performer anyway, but given that those two solid defenders who also lit the Jazz up offensively the last time these two teams met won’t be in action tonight, I have a hard time believing the Celtics will have much of an answer at all for Hayward on either end of the court.

Hayward was the main bright point from Utah’s disappointing loss to Dallas on Thursday as he finished the game with a season-high 36 points. No doubt, though, he would have preferred the win over a personal season-high scoring output, so I’m going to look for Hayward to come out anxious to do whatever it takes to step his game up even further to propel his team to a win.

Hayward has now scored 30 points or more in three of his last four contests and if he’s able to keep up that current hot streak against a shorthanded Celtics team, the Jazz will be in good shape.

Feb 29, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder (right) speaks to forward Gordon Hayward (20) during the second half of a game against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

Prediction – Jazz 102, Celtics 94

Earlier in the week, I predicted that the Jazz would come out victorious in this game by an eight-point margin. However, I was feeling quite hesitant with my pick and was hoping to have a better feel for my expectations after Utah’s recent three-game road stint.

However, that loss to Dallas has only made me feel all the more nervous about my prediction.

Nevertheless, I’m confident that the Jazz won’t dwell too much on that one defeat and instead will learn from their mistakes and come out ready to go tonight. Especially with the news that Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley will both be out, I like Utah’s chances even more. Therefore, I’m going to go ahead and keep my prediction the same as it was.

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Tonight’s game against the Celtics will be the first of three home games leading up to the All-Star break, giving Utah an enormous opportunity to get the home stand started out right with a victory tonight.

It won’t get much easier, though, given that Utah faces the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers next week, so the next three games beginning with tonight’s affair will be a good measuring stick to see how the Jazz truly stack up with the All-Star break nearing.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com

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