Donovan Mitchell put up a team-leading 34 points and Mike Conley added 29 points and seven assists as the Utah Jazz outlasted the Boston Celtics for a 137-130 win on Friday night in Salt Lake City.
Rudy Gobert totaled 18 points and 12 rebounds and Bojan Bogdanovic had 16 points for Utah, which earned a third straight win and has won seven of nine overall.
The Jazz shot a blistering 52.9 percent (27 of 51) from 3-point range. The 27 treys were the most allowed by Boston in franchise history.
Jayson Tatum led all scorers with 37 points for the Celtics. Dennis Schroder scored 26, Al Horford had 21 with nine assists and Marcus Smart chipped in 15 points for Boston, which had won its previous two games.
Celtics guard Romeo Langford (six points) did not return for the third quarter after sustaining a right ankle sprain in the first half.
Boston All-Star Jaylen Brown did not play as the team continues to manage his return from a right hamstring strain. Brown experienced a minor setback in the Celtics’ 88-87 win against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.
Jazz forward Royce O’Neale had 12 points and 10 boards after missing two games with a sprained right ankle. Utah played without center Udoka Azubuike (right ankle injury) and guard Elijah Hughes (adductor strain).
Utah led 59-56 at halftime and neither side was able to separate much in the final 24 minutes.
A 13-2 run pushed the Jazz’s lead to 127-120 with under two minutes to play before Schroder’s 3-pointer and Tatum’s layup made it a two-point game with 1:16 to go. Conley answered with a trey to give Utah a 130-125 advantage with 58.1 seconds left.
Tatum made a pair of free throws to make it a three-point game again, but Mitchell hit a dagger fallaway 3-pointer with 28.2 seconds on the clock to put the Jazz up 133-127.
Conley hit two free throws before Tatum responded with a desperation 3-pointer with seven seconds to go. Conley put the game away with two more free throws.
Utah went 9 of 13 from 3-point range in the first quarter to open a 38-25 lead. Boston shot just 2 of 12 from long distance in the period.
–Field Level Media
