Jae Crowder Lauds Intense Utah Crowd — But Says Boston’s Still Wilder

Somewhere deep, deep down, Boston still holds a place in Jae Crowder’s heart.

The Utah Jazz forward helped his team beat the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their first-round NBA playoffs series. And if you watched the game, you know the crowd at Vivint Smart Home Arena was going absolutely nuts for their Jazz in Game 4, just as they did in Game 3.

But while Crowder believes the playoff atmosphere in Utah has been incredible, he’s not ready to put it on the level of the TD Garden, where he played parts of three seasons with the Boston Celtics.

“It’s top-two, for sure,” Crowder said after the game, via The Salt Lake Tribune’s Christopher Kamrani. “You’ve got to realize I played in Boston in a Game 7. … It’s right up there. (The fans) really helped us and really carried us.”

Yeah, Utah’s crowd has been that good. So good, in fact, that it left rookie guard Donovan Mitchell speechless after his 33-point performance.

That’s a sound Celtics fans are all-too familiar with.

Crowder has had an iffy relationship with the C’s and their fans ever since Boston traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers last offseason. But while his tenure in Beantown didn’t end in storybook fashion, he apparently still has great memories of playing in the jungle.