Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum dunks the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/George Frey)
SALT LAKE CITY — Jayson Tatum scored 38 points and Derrick White added 24 to lead the Boston Celtics to a 123-107 win over the struggling Utah Jazz on Tuesday night in the NBA.
The Celtics were missing rotation players Jaylen Brown (back), Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring) and Al Horford (toe) but shot so well it didn’t matter much.
Jrue Holiday scored 16 points and Sam Hauser had 14 as the Celtics made 20 3-pointers and outscored the Jazz on second-chance points, 22-8.
Jayson Tatum filled the box score with 38 PTS to help the Celtics take down the Jazz ☘️ pic.twitter.com/mANHPTfEX5
— NBA (@NBA) March 13, 2024
Keyonte George scored 14 of his 26 points in the first quarter, Jordan Clarkson tallied 21 and Collin Sexton had 20 for Utah, which has dropped 11 of its last 13 games.
The Jazz played without leading scorer Lauri Markkanen (thigh) and Taylor Hendricks (toe).
Clarkson sparked an 11-3 run in the third quarter to draw the Jazz within two after trailing by double-digits much of the game.
But the Celtics responded with 20 straight points. Holiday made back-to-back 3-pointers to extend their lead to 113-91 with 6:28 to play.
Boston forced 12 straight empty possessions by the Jazz to take back control of the game, mostly without Tatum.
The Celtics finished their five-game road trip strong with three straight wins. They also improved their record on second games of back-to-back sets to an impressive 9-2.
The Celtics, who became the first team in the NBA to reach 50 wins on Monday, turned up their defensive pressure whenever the Jazz closed the gap.
Injuries on both sides necessitated some rarely seen lineups of two-way contract holders and end-of-the-bench players.
Utah even defended Tatum with the 6-foot-1 Sexton for stretches in the second half.
Led by White and Houser hitting four 3s each, the Celtics made 14 shots from beyond the arc in the first half to surge to a 72-57 lead at the half.
White finished with seven 3s.
Hauser is taking advantage of his recent opportunities with a season-high 22 at Portland Monday and 14 against the Jazz.
NEXT SCHEDULE
Celtics: Host Phoenix on Thursday night.
Jazz: Host Hawks on Friday night.