Wednesday night's matchup between the Boston Celtics and surging Utah Jazz featured 47-plus minutes of so-ugly-only-a-mother-could-love-it offense, but man, did those last few seconds make up for it.
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Boston held an eight-point lead after an Isaiah Thomas jumper with 2:17 to go, but the Jazz stormed back, ripping off a 9-2 run to draw within one at 83-82 in the final minute. Celtics swingman Jae Crowder saw a potential cushion-providing layup swatted at the tin by Utah monster Rudy Gobert, but Jazz point man Trey Burke couldn't convert a short runner that would have given Utah the lead with 9.6 seconds remaining. But Utah retained control after the ball went out of bounds, giving Quin Snyder's crew another chance to take the lead.
The first-year head coach put the ball in the hands of his max-money forward, and Gordon Hayward made a play:
Hayward took the inbounds pass, shook pitbull defender Avery Bradley with a behind-the-back dribble to create space, then attacked Celtics center Tyler Zeller off the screen, pulling up for a tough midrange jumper that he splashed over Zeller's outstretched arms to give Utah an 84-83 lead.
There was just one problem: the Celtics, led by Hayward's former college coach at Butler, Brad Stevens, had 1.7 seconds and a timeout left.
Snyder elected to have the 7-foot-2 Gobert guard inbounds passer and newly minted Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month Marcus Smart, and the Celtics' play call took advantage of that cross-match. Zeller, guarded by Utah power forward Derrick Favors, raced from the top of the key to the basket as Crowder cut from the left block to replace him and Bradley cut from the right elbow to the far corner. All those cuts along the free-throw line worked as de-facto screens, which Utah switched, leading to Zeller finding himself one-on-one with rookie Jazz swingman Rodney Hood.
Smart lofted a perfect lob pass over Gobert and Hood, connecting with Zeller under the basket. He stayed down long enough to allow a helping Hayward to fly by, and just barely got the ball up in time — two-tenths of a second remaining on the game clock, just past the hand of the hard-charging Gobert — to watch it bounce off the window, carom off the rim and fall softly through the net, giving the Celtics an 85-84 victory that finished in far more thrilling fashion than anyone could have predicted for the lion's share of the proceedings, and afforded Zeller some sweet redemption after failing to stop Hayward on the other end.
"It feels great, especially after going down there, you know, giving them a bucket," Zeller told Comcast SportsNet New England's Abby Chen after the game. "It's great to be able to win this one."
In the aftermath of the play, some observers wondered whether Snyder might have been better off letting someone else guard the inbounder and having shot-swatting marvel Gobert stationed in the paint to protect the rim. But as NBA TV's Brent Barry pointed out, the Jazz might have still come away with the victory had Gobert — who finished with 10 points, 16 rebounds, three blocks, three assists and a steal in 36 minutes — pressed up tighter on Smart at the point of attack:
@GwashburnGlobe yes Gary but ball pressure on the passer was a lesson for him to learn, pass never gets there in that way if he is on it...
— Brent Barry (@Barryathree) March 5, 2015 Whatever Utah's shortcomings on the final possession, you've got to tip your cap to the Celtics for executing in a tight spot. Zeller, who finished with eight points, 11 rebounds, two blocks, one steal and one assist in 30 minutes of floor time, credited his final-play patience and presence of mind to a teammate's intervention.
"Actually, somebody walked up to me right before it and said I got time for one shot if I can go up," he said. "It worked great."
(That sage Celtic? Little-used Italian shooter Luigi Datome, who came over from the Detroit Pistons in the three-way trade deadline deal that shipped out Tayshaun Prince and Marcus Thornton while also importing Thomas and Jonas Jerebko. Nice work, Gigi.)
As smooth as the finished product looked, though, this wasn't quite how Stevens drew it up in the Celtics' final huddle.
"It was actually supposed to get a post-up for a move," Zeller said. "But [Hood] fronted me, so [Marcus] just threw it up over the top, and made it a lot easier on me."
And, in the process, made the evening miserable for the Jazz, who lost for just the second time since the All-Star break despite holding Boston to a 37.5 percent shooting mark from the field.
Thomas led the way with 21 points on 6-for-12 shooting, seven assists and three rebounds in 26 1/2 minutes off the Celtics bench. Fellow reserve Crowder added 18 points, four boards, two dimes and a block in 33 minutes for Boston, who bounced back after a brutal blowout at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday to score their fourth win in six games and improve to 24-35, drawing within two games of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.
Favors and Burke each scored 16 to lead the Jazz, while Hayward added 13 points, three boards, three assists and the near game-winner. After the final buzzer, Butler products Hayward and Stevens shared a brief embrace ... joined, somewhat awkwardly, by the Celtics' Crowder:
Brad Stevens, hugged from behind by Jae Crowder while telling Gordon Hayward that he's proud of him. http://ift.tt/1B4IA8V
— Josh Zavadil (@JoshuaZavadil) March 5, 2015 It was, perhaps, the perfect ending to a game that was almost uncomfortably close throughout.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
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