This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
This was simply a different team.
On Thursday night, the Utah Jazz played with an almost alarming lack of energy against the Washington Wizards. As a result, the Jazz turned the ball over a season-high 23 times. Their defense suffered, their offensive execution was nonexistent and they suffered a lopsided defeat because of it.
Fast-forward 24 hours to Friday night. In their first nationally televised appearance of the season, Utah proved why it's in the thick of the Western Conference playoff hunt. The Jazz played defense typical to what they've shown over the course of the season. They shot the ball well and received balanced production throughout the roster.
A 111-93 win over the Boston Celtics was the result in front of a sellout crowd at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Considering how poorly the Jazz played against the Wizards, the victory served as a nice bounce-back from one of the more ugly moments of the season.
"I think the first game back from all-star break is always a little sluggish," Jazz forward Gordon Hayward said. "I think the national TV audience had a little something to do with it as well. For whatever reason, I thought we played well and defended well. We made Boston play in the halfcourt, and we executed."
The victory was much needed. Utah's main playoff competition — the Houston Rockets and the Portland Trail Blazers — both won games on Friday night. The Blazers defeated the Golden State Warriors behind 51 points from former Weber State star Damian Lillard. With the Jazz beginning the night in ninth place, it was important for them to keep pace, which they did.
All-around, Utah exploited the Celtics in almost every way imaginable. The Jazz dominated on the interior, with Derrick Favors scoring mostly at will on the low block and Rudy Gobert gobbling up rebounds and cleaning up garbage inside.
Favors was destructive to the Celtics on both ends, scoring 23 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and handing out six assists. Gobert scored 11 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.
On the perimeter, the Jazz shot the ball very well from 3-point range, while Hayward used a big second half to leave a considerable imprint on the game. He scored 18 of his 22 points after halftime. Trey Burke, Trevor Booker and Chris Johnson all played well off the bench. They didn't score a lot, but they each played a big role. Burke pushed the ball in transition, Johnson made some big threes and Booker displayed his usual energy. Starting point guard Raul Neto followed his worst performance of the season with perhaps his best, scoring a career-high 15 points.
It proved too much for the Celtics. The game was close for most of the first half. But with the Jazz leading 69-62 midway through the third quarter, Utah proceeded to score 10 consecutive points, taking a 79-62 advantage and effectively putting the game away. The Celtics pushed back a few times, but Utah was relentless in the second half in getting to the rim and finding its way to the free-throw line.
"We attacked tonight," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "You can't play tentatively against Boston. You can't play afraid against them because they're so aggressive defensively. Our spacing last night wasn't good. Our bigs embraced that, our wings got to the corners and we had more space. There was more of an urgency tonight from our guys."
That doesn't mean Friday night went perfectly for the Jazz. They still turned the ball over too much, 16 in all and eight in the first quarter alone. They missed way too many free-throws, which could come back to bite them in future games that prove closer. After a hot start from the 3-point line, they went cold, regressing to the mean.
But the Jazz showed resiliency on Friday night, soundly beating a good Eastern Conference team and doing it after flying across the country twice in three days. It serves as an encouraging result for Utah, which plays Portland on Sunday and Houston on Tuesday.
With the win, the Jazz move to 27-27 on the season. All-star point guard Isaiah Thomas scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Celtics.
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Storylines
R The Jazz place all five starters in double figures.
• Utah goes 10 for 23 from the 3-point line and shoots 54 percent overall.
• The Jazz move to 27-27 on the season.
More coverage
• Thursday's trade for Shelvin Mack gives Utah a boost in size and depth at the point guard position. > C4
• Utah coach Quin Snyder isn't surprised by Boston's success this season. > C5