Jazz top Celtics in SLC

Before Jerry Sloan became one of the winningest head coaches in NBA history, his claim to fame was as one of the toughest—some would say nastiest—players in league history.  At their best, his teams in Utah have reflected this mentality and it was clearly in evidence on Thursday night at the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City as the Jazz used their punishing physical style to pull away from the Boston Celtics late en route to a 90-85 victory. 

In the process, the Celtics lost All Star forward Kevin Garnett who returned to Boston following the game for an MRI on a straight right knee.  At the very minimum, he’ll miss the final three games on the Celtics road trip.  Garnett came out for second half warm-ups after injuring his knee before halftime, but was kept out of the game by head coach Doc Rivers as a precaution.  The Jazz took advantage of Garnett’s absence, chipping away at an 11 point lead before pulling out the victory at the end.  Despite the loss, Rivers was generally happy with his team’s effort:

"I think our defense was great and gave us a chance to win the game. It really came down to free throws by us and turnovers. We make our free throws, we win the game. And we if we don't turn the ball over, we win the game.”

In the winning locker room, Jazz coach Sloan was clearly pleased with the victory and even more so with his team’s refusal to back down to the Celtics vaunted intimidation tactics:

"They put a body on you. They knock you around. Our guys, sometimes we want to play in a tuxedo. And when you're playing against those guys, you better get it off and get ready to get nasty."

The Celtics Paul Pierce led all scorers with 20 points, and added 9 rebounds in a solid all around effort.  Rajon Rondo added 15 points, with Ray Allen and Kendrick Perkins each contributing 12.  Perkins also pulled in 11 rebounds to complete the ‘double/double’.  Utah was lead by 19 point from Mehmet Okur, with Deron Williams right behind with 18 points and 10 assists.  Ronnie Brewer added 16, with Andrei Kirilenko contributing 13 off the bench for the Jazz.

Boston finishes up their Western Conference road swing with games on Sunday in Phoenix, Monday in Denver and Wednesday against the LA Clippers.  Utah will host the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday and the Atlanta Hawks on Monday before heading to Minnesota for a game against the Timberwolves next Wednesday.