Utah Jazz at Boston Celtics: Can Jazz find their shot to beat Boston anew?

The Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics have gone completely different directions since their last meeting. Can the Jazz get back on track in their upcoming bout?

Since the Utah Jazz beat the Boston Celtics in an exciting and emotional game in Salt Lake City last Friday, the two teams have seemingly gone in completely opposite directions. The Celtics lost their next game on the road to a tough Portland Trail Blazers team, then they went on to crush the lowly Chicago Bulls and sneak past the elite Toronto Raptors in an overtime thriller just last night.

Meanwhile, Utah won their next game on the road against a tough Memphis Grizzlies team. But from there, they got absolutely obliterated by the lowly Dallas Mavericks, before getting off to a slow start and failing to ever find their shot in a heartbreaking loss to the Philadelphia 76ers last night. In that regard, the two teams have mirrored each other, with Utah going 1-2 and Boston going 2-1.

With all that considered, there’s no questioning that Boston simply looks like the better team coming into Saturday’s contest, and that’s frightening news for a Jazz team that has once again slipped below .500 on the year at 7-8. They’ll look to get their mojo back in round two of the revenge game vs. Gordon Hayward, but lately they haven’t shown encouraging signs that they’ll be able to get the W.

Since Utah’s win in Boston, they’re shooting just 39 percent from the field and 21.3 percent from deep. In their last two, it’s been even worse from deep as Utah has been at an appalling 17.5 percent. That was accentuated by Donovan Mitchell heaving and heaving in the most recent contest, finishing the game just 1-of-11 from the perimeter.

Take away his 3-point shots, and he shot a respectable 12-of-24 from the field, a solid mark. But he’s got to find a way to become more efficient and intelligent with his decision making while maintaining his aggression. Utah’s offense depends on it.

But Mitchell is far from the only one to blame for either loss, particularly last night’s heartbreaker in Philadelphia. Jae Crowder, who had looked like one of Utah’s most consistent players through the first 12 games of the season, has found himself back in an all-too-familiar inefficient slump. Ricky Rubio continues to make costly mistakes which once again devastated the Jazz both in a slow start and a disappointing finish.

Meanwhile, Rudy Gobert had some great moments against Joel Embiid in the bout against Philly, but got roasted in the fourth quarter, made some crucial defensive mistakes which proved costly and finished the game an appalling minus-26. Not only that, but he went just 5-of-10 from the field (poor by his standards) for just 12 points.

And that’s not even mentioning the painful free throw shooting which has become an ugly trend for Utah. They went 21-of-37 (56.8 percent) last night in a six-point loss. If you’re wondering where Utah’s recent shooting woes have landed them, they’re now a mediocre 13th in the league in field goal percentage (45.5 percent) and a hideous 26th in the league in both 3-point percentage (32.6 percent) and free throw percentage (71.5 percent).

I’d say there’s nowhere they can go but up in that regard, but based on how they’ve shot of late, there’s still four slots below them that they could fall in those latter two shooting categories, and at this rate they’re very much trending that direction.

Meanwhile, the Celtics appear to be turning a corner and picking things up in a big way. Kyrie Irving went off against Toronto to the tune of 43 points on an astounding 18-of-26 shooting. Jayson Tatum, meanwhile chipped in 21 points on an 8-of-13 clip. Ah, efficiency. It’s a beautiful thing. Hopefully the Jazz are taking notes.

And though Hayward continues to struggle with his perimeter shooting, he still went a solid 50 percent from the field in the contest and finished the game an incredible plus-18. Right now, the Celtics have all the swagger on both ends of the court, while the Jazz have little to none.

So with that stage set, who you got on Saturday night? It goes without saying that all signs point to the Celtics winning with ease. Then again, the Jazz have seemed to be able to turn it on when they care this season, so hopefully Hayward’s familiar mug and Crowder’s return to Boston will spark some life in the squad as a whole and they’ll be able to surprise us and get the job done.

Unfortunately, I’m not banking on as much. It’s a back-to-back for both teams so it could be somewhat of an ugly affair, but I have a feeling that the tired legs will affect the horrific shooting of Utah more than it will Boston. Utah is facing some real issues with a lack of shooters and no true playmakers outside of Mitchell. Factor in his inefficiency, Rubio’s dismal play that’s been prominent all season and the recent lackluster showing by the bench, and a Celtics team that’s phenomenal at home appears like the huge favorite.

Not only that, but Kyrie Irving didn’t play the last time these two squads faced off, and expect him to be a heaven-sent for the Celtics. Opposing point guards have had their way with Rubio and the Jazz all year, and I expect that Irving will similarly play an important role in potentially torching Utah’s struggling point guard corp.

Prediction – Celtics 98, Jazz 89

Hopefully Utah will choose to come out with energy and focus, unlike they’ve done in recent contests. If a 7-8 record and a chance to topple an elite Boston team aren’t enough to motivate them, then the Jazz have deeper problems than we know.

The Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics tip-off at 5:30 PM MT on NBA TV and AT&T SportsNet.