National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Boston 85, Utah 84
When: 7:30 PM ET, Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Officials: #76 Steven Anderson, #31 Scott Wall, #25 Tony Brothers
Attendance: 16354

Celtics 85, Jazz 84: Tyler Zeller muscled in a layup at the buzzer as Boston made the final dramatic move and held off visiting Utah.

Isaiah Thomas collected 21 points and seven assists off the bench and Jae Crowder added 18 points for the reserves as the Celtics bounced back from a 31-point loss in Cleveland on Tuesday. Avery Bradley scored 13 points for Boston while Zeller, who grabbed 11 rebounds to go along with eight points, set up in the post on the final play, took a feed from Marcus Smart and went hard to the basket.

Gordon Hayward buried a go-ahead jumper with 1.7 seconds left to cap an 11-2 run and give the Jazz an 84-83 lead before Zeller’s final shot. Derrick Favors and Trey Burke each scored 16 points while Hayward finished with 13 and Rudy Gobert added 10 points and 16 rebounds for Utah.

Favors knocked down a jumper midway through the fourth to pull the Jazz within 71-68, and his baseline jumper kept it a three-point gap with 3:43 to play. Thomas responded with a 3-pointer and scored in the lane in transition to increase the gap to 81-73 with 2:31 left before Utah stormed back to set up the wild finish.

Boston shot 32.6 percent in the first half but closed the second quarter with a 10-3 burst to take a 34-33 lead into the break. Thomas knocked down four free throws in the final 39 seconds of the third to put the Celtics up 61-55 heading into the fourth, and his 3-pointer early in the fourth stretched it to a nine-point gap.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Boston finished the game with three turnovers – the fewest in an NBA game this season and the fewest for the Celtics since 1985. … Gobert posted his third straight double-double and fourth in the last five games. … Boston C Kelly Olynyk (ankle) played for the first time in over a month and went 0-of-3 in seven minutes off the bench.
Top Game Performances
 
Utah   Boston
Trey Burke 16 Scoring Isaiah Thomas 21
Trey Burke 8 Assists Isaiah Thomas 7
Rudy Gobert 16 Rebounds Tyler Zeller 11
Rudy Gobert 4 Free Throws Made Isaiah Thomas 7
Rudy Gobert 1 Steals Marcus Smart 2
Rudy Gobert 3 Blocks Tyler Zeller 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Utah 84 45.3 3-19 13-21 21 51 4 1 14
Boston 85 37.5 8-27 11-20 21 39 3 5 3
Upcoming Games
  • Boston will play their next game on the road against New Orleans. The Celtics have a W/L % of .458 after a win and .371 after a loss.
  • Utah will play their next game on the road against Philadelphia. The Jazz have a W/L % of .292 after a win and .472 after a loss.