BOSTON – Down 96-95 with 30 seconds remaining in Monday night’s contest against the Boston Celtics, Gordon Hayward confidently took possession of the ball with the hope of delivering the potential game-winning shot for his Utah Jazz.
Normally Utah can rely upon its top scorer to find a good look and get off a clean attempt during a crunch time moment, but Hayward ultimately had no chance at escaping Boston’s block barrage on this night.
Hayward received the inbound pass in the left corner and was immediately met by Avery Bradley, who stuck to him like glue. The 6-foot-8 small forward proceeded to back down Boston’s 6-2 guard to the edge of the paint before making his move.
With his back still to Bradley, Hayward faked to his right, then back to his left before pulling up for a turnaround jumper. He hung in the air just a split second too long, however, as Bradley rose up and met the rock with his right palm.
“I tried to force him in to it,” Bradley recalled after the game. “I tried to force him into the middle so I could be right hand to right hand and I was able to get the block.”
The C’s collected the loose ball, and, after a few trips to the free throw line, sealed a 100-95 win – their 11th straight at TD Garden.
Bradley had been guarding Rodney Hood during the majority of the game, but Stevens opted to switch him over to Hayward for that crucial defensive possession.
“It just felt like he would be our best bet on Gordon late because Gordon had tried to drive it a few times there recently at the end,” explained Stevens. “And he made a really good play.”
The play perfectly capped off the night, which, in essence, was a Boston block party throughout.
The C’s swatted 13 shots, marking their highest total since Dec. 12, 2009.
When told of that statistic after the game, C’s coach Brad Stevens looked down at his personal copy of the box score, raised his eyebrows and simply said, “Wow.”
He was especially surprised at the fact that Boston out-blocked the Jazz 13-4, given that Utah, a premier swatting team, is normally the team dominating in that department. That was the case when the Jazz out-blocked Boston, 8-3, on Feb. 19, but this contest panned out in a different direction.
“We were in pretty good position, obviously,” said Stevens. “When we were struggling [in the paint] in the first half, I thought Jordan (Mickey) gave us great time and a lift with that group. I thought Tyler (Zeller) did a good job at the rim. We tried to make it as packed in as possible and be more active and into the ball than we were last time.
“I thought we guarded them – after the first quarter – about as well as we’ve guarded in a few weeks, so that’s encouraging. But the blocks were a result of being in the right place, and guys making good plays.”
As Stevens mentioned, one of those guys who made plenty of good plays was Mickey, who played seven minutes during the second quarter. After a rough start in the paint for Boston, Stevens sent in the rookie in an attempt to mix things up. The 6-8 forward responded with two blocked shots, to go along with three points and three rebounds.
Mickey had only played 13 total minutes this season prior to Monday night’s game, but he received a text from Stevens earlier in the day telling him to be ready to go.
“I got the text early this morning and I read it about ten times before I even got here,” Mickey recalled with a grin. “I was just trying to prepare myself to be ready for the opportunity, and you never know when you’re going to get that opportunity. It happened to be kind of early in the night and I was excited about it.”
Mickey was one of nine Celtics to block a shot Monday night, and was one of four – along with Jonas Jerebko, Amir Johnson and Tyler Zeller – to swat two.
The only Celtic that did not “officially” block a shot was Isaiah Thomas, though the 5-9 point guard insists that he was in on swatting fun as well.
“Look, I got a block at the end of the second quarter, but you probably couldn’t see it,” Thomas asserted, referring to his contestation of Trey Burke’s full court attempt that closed out the first half. “I got a hand on it. I tried to look at the stat guy to make sure he got my block, but he wasn’t trying to pay me no mind.”
Pen that into your mental box score, if you wish.
What is for certain, however, is the fact that this was the most impressive rim protecting performance we’ve seen from the C’s during the Stevens era. Not only because of the total number of blocked shots, but because nearly every player was involved in the effort, along with the fact that it came against a team with a great length advantage.
Block parties aren’t a common occurrence for Boston, but the C’s prime positioning and impeccable timing enabled them to accomplish the rare feat Monday night, and ultimately left them celebrating in the end.
