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Jayson Tatum scores 38 as Boston Celtics beat Utah Jazz, 123-107

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Jayson Tatum scores 38 as Boston Celtics beat Utah Jazz, 123-107


By MATTHEW COLES Associated Press

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.

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.

“The law of averages, you play so many games you won’t be perfect every night. You have to stick with it and trust that you’re going to have more good days than bad,” Tatum said about the Celtics shooting 40.8% from 3-point range.

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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.

“We won that battle on the boards and we needed to,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said

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.

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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.

“We have a lot of elite defenders and a lot of guys that are competing on both sides of the ball. When you have guys doing things like that, tt just drives you to compete more defensively it’s just a lot of fun,” White said.

Boston forced 12 straight empty possessions by the Jazz to take back control of the game, mostly without Tatum.

“We have a lot of fight in us,” George said. “But (Boston) was hitting shots. We got stagnant a little bit and the ball wasn’t going in the hoop.”

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.

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“I think the last game of a road trip is always important. This was a big win, we lost here last year, and a lot of guys got some minutes tonight and stepped up big,” Tatum said.

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.

“It’s very much frustrating especially when you’re trying to play defense,” Sexton said about Utah’s big drought.

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.

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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.

“You always want to get off to a good start. Obviously, when you’re hitting 3s it looks good,” White said.

White finished with seven 3s after his father urged him to not think twice about shooting.

“He said something about last game my 3s were looking better, so I told him I’m just going to let it fly and that’s just what my mindset was,” White said.

Hauser is taking advantage of his recent opportunities with a season-high 22 at Portland Monday and 14 against the Jazz.

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“We have a culture where it doesn’t matter who is in, guys are ready to play,” Mazzulla said. “I have no hesitancy putting any one of those guys in at any time.”

UP NEXT

Celtics: Host Phoenix on Thursday night.

Jazz: Host Hawks on Friday night. 



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Boston, MA

Boston Children’s Museum raises $625,000 at Wonder Ball

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Boston Children’s Museum raises $625,000 at Wonder Ball


Boston Children’s Museum raises $625,000 at Wonder Ball – CBS Boston

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The 10th annual event helped raise money to fund the museum.

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Bruins Notes: Boston Pushes Maple Leafs To Brink Of Elimination

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Bruins Notes: Boston Pushes Maple Leafs To Brink Of Elimination


After splitting the first two games in Boston, the Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs in back-to-back games in Toronto to take the 3-1 lead in the opening-round Stanley Cup playoffs series.

The Bruins stars excelled in Game 4 while the Maple Leafs appeared to be missing in action.

Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and James van Riemsdyk got Boston on the board, and Mitchell Marner scored the lone Toronto goal. The Bruins held Marner, Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Jon Tavares to 10 shots in the game and blocked 27 attempted Leafs shots.

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“I just thought that our puck support and (…) execution along with effort allowed us to spend a lot of offensive zone time and get some quality looks that we haven’t been getting,” Bruins head coach told Andy Brickley after the win, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage.

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Montgomery moved away from the goalie rotation for the first time in the series and went with Jeremy Swayman for the second straight game.

Swayman was outstanding in net for the Bruins making 24 saves for his third win. The 25-year-old Alaskan native didn’t take full credit for the win.

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“Couldn’t be happier with them,” Swayman told Adam Pellerin on NESN’s postgame coverage about the team in front of him. “Blocking shots. All 60 minutes and that’s what it’s going to take against this team. It’s what it’s going to take to end the series, and I just couldn’t be happier with these guys in front of me.”

Swayman has won six straight games against the Leafs, including the playoffs, with a 1.32 goals-against average and a .958 save percentage.

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“I just want to pull my end of the rope,” Swayman said. “Again, we got 23 guys in there that are doing their job to an absolute T, and they’re working hard for every inch of ice they get, so I just want to be a part of something special, and we’re excited to go back to Boston.”

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Here are more notes from Bruins-Maple Leafs Game 4:

— The Leafs have lost six straight playoff games on home ice, being outscored 21-11 in those games, according to The Athletic’s Chris Johnston.

— Marchand’s power-play goal in the second period moved the Bruins captain to 56 postseason tallies. Marchand now has the most playoff goals in franchise history, moving past current Bruins president Cam Neely with 55.

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He also tied Johnny Bucyk for the second-most career postseason goals against the Maple Leafs with 10. Only Phil Esposito has more goals (11) than Bucyk and Marchand in franchise history. Jake DeBrusk and Pastrnak are tied with David Krejci for third most with nine each.

— The Bruins look to close out the series and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals with a win over the Leafs in Game 5 on Tuesday. Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.



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Celtics Wrap: Boston Humbles Heat With Game 3 Victory Response

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Celtics Wrap: Boston Humbles Heat With Game 3 Victory Response


The Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat, 104-84 in Game 3, getting back on their feet with a much-needed response victory at Kaseya Center on Saturday night.

With the win, Boston takes a 2-1 series lead, halfway done to advance to the second round, over Miami.

Check out the full box score here.

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ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The Celtics were punked in Game 2, allowing the Heat to gather a great deal of confidence — without Jimmy Butler — leaving it up to Boston to redeem itself after failing to capitalize on its home-court advantage.

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Putting aside the outside noise garnered through Boston’s inability to guard the perimeter and counter the widely-known game plan from Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra in Game 2, the Celtics let their play do all the talking. Boston held Miami to just 39 points in the first half, the fewest the Heat scored throughout the season before halftime.

The three ball wasn’t falling for the Celtics — they shot 11-of-37 (29.7%) — but they utilized their ball movement to generate offense, and maintain that pressure, from other areas of the floor.

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Boston helped set the tone early on, ensuring that no matter what failures occurred offensively, the team would contest Miami’s shot attempts, limiting the Heat to 12 first-quarter points. They also turned 12 Miami turnovers into 24 Celtics points.

Instead of allowing the Heat to (again) bully and little brother them under the bright lights, the Celtics exploited Miami as the less talented squad in the series — while shooting poorly from 3-point territory, which is a primary source of scoring for Boston.

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The win gave the Celtics their fifth consecutive road victory against the Heat.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Jayson Tatum got involved all over the floor, notching a double-double by scoring 22 points, collecting 11 rebounds, and dishing out six assists. Tatum’s zero turnovers total set the tone in Boston’s more efficient-flowing offense that didn’t allow Miami to counter on self-inflicted miscues.

— Kristaps Porzingis had a bounce-back performance, giving the Celtics 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting with five rebounds. Porzingis also pitched in on the other end of the floor, recording two blocks, and finishing a plus-12.

— Miami’s Bam Adebayo couldn’t bridge the scoring gap, but did lead the Heat with 20 points and nine rebounds in a team-high 39 minutes played.

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UP NEXT
The Celtics and Heat will meet again for Game 4 on Monday night as Boston will seek a commanding 3-1 series lead over Miami. Tip-off from Kaseya Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.



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