Celtics Notes: Boston Comes Close But Doesn’t Execute Against Top Teams

You like to think the Boston Celtics can compete against anyone. That’s usually the case, but this season in particular, they’re dropping these close games against some of the best teams in the league.

That was the case against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday, with Boston right there in the thick of things down the stretch. But ultimately, it couldn’t get it done in a 117-109 loss.

This is their second straight loss since the All-Star break, and though there wasn’t necessarily a shortage of things to critique, it’s hard to get too worked up over narrow losses to two of the best teams in the league in the Brooklyn Nets and Jazz. Especially when Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are dropping 29 and 28 points, respectively.

Utah’s 29-10 record is the best in the NBA, and coach Brad Stevens had a lot more praise for the Jazz than criticism for the Celtics in his postgame press conference.

“A great offensive team, first and foremost, so I don’t want to act like we were out there by ourselves. And they made you pay,” Stevens said of Utah.

“If you would have told me we took 18 more shots in the game, I’d have felt pretty good about our chances. But I do think the quality of shots, as far as, you know, just from an efficiency standpoint, favored them quite a bit — as it has all year. They’ve been the best in the league at it.

“We had some really good defensive possessions, just not enough of them. But that’s a combination of tremendous coaching, tremendous skilled players, tremendous quick decision making, and a seven foot four guy roll into the front of the room every time.”

Against a team like the Jazz, it takes a lot more than a good effort, which the Celtics are learning the hard way this season. They’re now 0-8 this season against the NBA’s stop five teams, also including the Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns, as noted by MassLive’s Brian Robb.

More often than not, it’s been a close game.

“We’re for sure playing better I can say that,” Jayson Tatum said after the loss.

“I feel it. I think is obvious when we play. We’ve lost to some really good teams recently, that we felt like a few mistakes here and there that we could change, the outcome may have been different. But we’re playing better, just, you know, make some more shots, we’ll feel better about ourselves.”

Here are some other notes from Celtics-Jazz:

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— It should be noted that both Robert Williams and Daniel Theis had solid performances against the Jazz. It should also be noted that Tristan Thompson was out of the lineup due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols.

It’s been interesting to watch Brad Stevens try and manage the minutes from the three centers on his roster, especially as Williams has made jumps in his game this year that came as a bit of a surprise.

Theis started, dropping 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in 26 minutes on the court. Williams played 22 minutes and came close to a double-double with nine 14 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.

All that to say, it will be really interesting to see how the duo continue to play as Thompson remains out. Especially Williams, finally getting the minutes he’s earned.

“Yeah, Rob has been great for us, I’ve been enjoying his development,” Jaylen Brown said of his teammate. “But since he’s been here he’s always had the potential, and that kind of manifests and turns into consistency every single night, so we look forward to him continuing to make big plays for us.”

— Tatum went off in the third quarter with three triples, hitting the 500th 3-pointer of his career in the third quarter. So that was good.

— Here’s a stat we hate: Boston got to the free throw line just four times (and made three). That’s tied for the fewest attempts in franchise history.

— Quick turn around tomorrow, as Boston heads to Cleveland to face the Cavaliers for an 8 p.m. Tip.