BOSTON – Not many teams have been able to slow down Boston’s high-octane offense lately.
The Utah Jazz, however, are an exception.
The C’s came out of the All-Star break on Feb. 19 and were met with their most lopsided defeat in nearly three months. Boston was beaten handedly, 111-93, in Salt Lake City, marking just the second time in 19 games it was held below 100 points.
Boston shot just 30-for-81 (37.0 percent) from the field and was greatly limited because of Utah’s immense length – an advantage the Jazz will look to use against the C’s again tonight when the two teams face off at TD Garden.
Headlining Utah’s length is 7-foot-1 center Rudy Gobert, who tallied game highs of 15 rebounds and four blocked shots against Boston a week and a half ago. The 23-year-old France native says he and his frontcourt mates focused on keeping up with Boston’s fast-paced tempo, and that was what enabled them to slow the C’s down.
“They’re a team that scores a lot in transition,” Gobert said following Utah’s shootaround this morning, “so our goal was really to run back, sprint back and make sure they didn’t get easy layups and easy baskets in transition so they couldn’t get going. They’re an unselfish team and they’re pretty hard to guard, so you’ve got to communicate and have very a good solid game plan.”
The communication between Gobert and Derrick Favors in particular is what killed Boston last time, as the duo combined for 25 rebounds and seven blocked shots. The C’s, meanwhile, tallied just 34 rebounds and three blocks as a team.
Gobert, who owns a wingspan greater than 7-foot-8 and a standing reach of 9-foot-7, has been one of the top rim protectors in the league this season. Opponents have shot a league-low 40.8 percent against him at the rim, and he is averaging the second-most swats (2.5 blocks per game) in the NBA.
With him alongside Favors, a 6-10, 265-pound forward who is averaging 8.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, it’s easy to see why Utah’s opponents generally stay away from the rim as much as possible.
“We’re just defense-first guys,” Favors said of himself and Gobert. “The way the NBA’s going, there’s not a lot of really good defensive players like us, so we just try to come out and make it tough in the paint for other teams.”
Utah’s bigs say their toughest interior task tonight will be containing the smallest guy on the court: Isaiah Thomas.
The 5-9 Celtics guard has had his way with opposing bigs this season, and managed to score a game-high 25 points against the Jazz during the previous meeting.
“He’s pretty good, especially for his size,” said Favors, who scored a team-high 23 points for Utah on Feb. 19, along with 10 rebounds, six assists and three blocks. “He knows how to get his shot off in the paint against bigger guys and it’s impressive.”
Added Gobert, “Isaiah’s very crafty with his layups. He can hit the ceiling and it will still go in, so you’ve got to make him score in the hardest way possible.”
Thomas will likely come into this game with some extra hunger for the net, having just put forth his second-lowest scoring output of the season Saturday afternoon when he tallied 12 points against the Heat.
Couple that with the fact that Boston has won 10 straight at home, and Utah knows it has a tall task ahead tonight.
“They’re 10-0 at home, so we know it’s going to be a challenge,” said Favors, whose Jazz are 9-18 on the road this season. “We just gotta come out, be ready to play and know they’re going to come out with a lot of energy.”
Boston’s most recent win against Miami on Saturday featured plenty of that home-court energy, and it managed to find a way to defeat the lengthy Heat and the league’s top shot-blocker, Hassan Whiteside.
The C’s will look to do the same tonight against another long team, as they attempt to reverse their fate against the Jazz.
