One might have thought that the Boston Celtics would cruise to an easy win against the Utah Jazz on Saturday night given the way they played in their last victory against the Portland Trail Blazers and the first half of play against Utah, Boston looking more like the ball club that came out on fire to start the 2022-23 season despite being down three starters. Then, the sloppy Celtics took the floor in the second half, and a groundhog day-like nightmare crept back into view.
The result was Boston dropping a key game late in the stretch run 118-117 in a questionable final play, dropping the Celtics to third in the East even as they locked up a postseason berth. Solid games from Jaylen Brown (25 points, 6 assists), Grant Williams (23 points), and Malcolm Brogdon (16 points, 5 boards) nearly were enough to carry the day despite the bad second half on a night where Jayson Tatum (15 points, 6 assists) went 4-of-12 from the field.
