Mitchell’s 37 Points Not Enough To Prevent Utah Jazz From Falling To Boston Celtics

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Donovan Mitchell dropped 37 points on the Boston Celtics but it wasn’t enough to halt the current losing streak by the Utah Jazz.

The Jazz fell for the fourth consecutive game with a 114-103 loss to the Celtics at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Wednesday, February 26.

Mitchell carried Utah with 37 points on 15-32 shooting although he went 2-10 from distance. The Jazz guard went 5-7 from the foul stripe. Mitchell added 5 rebounds and 5 assists in 36 minutes of play. He posted a -1 plus-minus rating.

7th game with 35+#PerformanceLeader | @Lexus 📊 pic.twitter.com/lpuzfSdxYA

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 27, 2020

Slow Start To Poor Finish

Utah’s struggles began from the jump ball to start the game. The Celtics limited the Jazz to 15 points in the first quarter of the game.

The Jazz responded in the second quarter by outscoring the Celtics by six points to cut their lead over Utah to 53-51 at halftime. Mitchell dropped 20 points in the second quarter to led the Jazz.

man
on
a
mission pic.twitter.com/tDfWk3KnXg

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 27, 2020

The third quarter was a lot of back-and-forth basketball and Boston led Utah by three points as the two teams went to the bench before the final 12 minutes of the game.

The Celtics opened the final quarter with a 15-5 run during the first 4:38 of the fourth quarter. During the run, Boston guard Marcus Smart connected on three triples.

3️⃣6️⃣ from 👌 pic.twitter.com/D8I2qJ2Usn

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 27, 2020

Utah was unable to recover and trailed by double digits for the final 8:21 of regulation.

“I thought we gave a really really good, pure effort,” said Jazz head coach Quin Snyder after the loss. “We gotta make a few more shots… but I saw a team that was committed to defending and playing together.”

Quin Snyder started the press conference with a positive perspective on the Jazz fourth consecutive loss.

The coach recognizes his team seems to need a morale boost after the All-Star break.#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/5yHjtKflXT

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 27, 2020

Jazz By The Numbers

Utah’s Mike Conley and Royce O’Neale were the only other Jazzmen to score in double figures against Boston. Conley scored 15 points on 5-13 field goals. O’Neale returned to Utah’s starting lineup and scored 14 points on 4-7 points.

Jazz center Rudy Gobert recorded 9 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks in 35 minutes.

ᵇᵒᵘⁿᶜᵉ ᵖᵃˢˢ
⤵️ ⤴️ pic.twitter.com/Eiwz6TS7EB

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 27, 2020

It was Gobert’s first game without reaching double figures in either points or rebounds since the third game of the season against the Sacramento Kings on October 26.

Bojan Bogdanovic struggled and scored 3 points on 1-8 field goals and 0-4 from three.

Jordan Clarkson led Utah’s bench with 9 points. Utah’s second unit combined for 25 points in the loss.

The Jazz finished the game shooting 44.9 percent from the field and 30.0 percent from three-point range.

Blasted By Boston

Boston shot 53.6 percent for the game including 42.3 percent from deep.

“On defense, we know we can take it up another notch,” said Jazz forward Royce O’Neale after the game.

The Celtics’ starting five each scored in double figures led by NBA All-Star Jayson Tatum.

Tatum led Boston with 33 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Jayson Tatum has recorded 3 straight 30+ point games and shot 60% from the field or better in all three. The last @celtics player to do this was Kevin McHale (3 straight) in March 1987. @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/IjjKMo2SnJ

— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) February 27, 2020

Former Jazzman and current Celtics forward Gordon Hayward finished the game with 12 points on 4-12 shooting. Hayward added 5 rebounds, and 2 assists in 36 minutes.

Past Jazz big man and current Celtics center Enes Kanter recorded 8 points on 4-4 field goals. Kanter added 7 rebounds, 1 steal, and 2 blocks in 21 minutes.

Boston improved to 41-17 on the season and 18-12 on the road with the 11 point win.

Up Next

The Jazz lost for the fourth straight home game. Utah hasn’t won since beating the Miami Heat before the NBA All-Star break on February 12.

final pic.twitter.com/TSTDDcShds

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 27, 2020

With the loss, the Jazz moved to 36-22 on the season and 20-9 at Vivint Smart Home Arena.

Utah finishes its five-game homestand against the Washington Wizards on Friday, February 28 at 7 p.m. (MDT).