Inside The Celtics

Top 5 Plays From Celtics-Jazz

From a pair of plays by Jayson Tatum to an emphatic putback dunk by Marcus Smart and Donovan Mitchell getting hot at the end of the game, here are the top five plays from the Utah Jazz's victory over the Boston Celtics on Friday night.

Bobby Krivitsky

Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

From a pair of plays by Jayson Tatum to an emphatic putback dunk by Marcus Smart and Donovan Mitchell getting hot at the end of the game, here are the top five plays from the Utah Jazz's victory over the Boston Celtics on Friday night.

The Jazz Pay for Not Stopping the Ball Sooner

After a missed three by Donovan Mitchell, no one on the Jazz picks Jayson Tatum up until Bojan Bogdanovic meets him below Utah's three-point line. At that point, Tatum has too much momentum, and he goes from an in-and-out to a crossover dribble before finishing at the cup as two other Jazz defenders flail at him.

Marcus Smart Punches Home the Putback

Dennis Schroder fights his way to the basket but can't get the layup to go; luckily for the Celtics, Marcus Smart comes crashing in from the weakside wing, taking advantage of Mitchell having his hands full trying to zone two, and he punches home the putback slam.

Jayson Tatum's Dime to Marcus Smart

Tatum gets the ball from Al Horford in a dribble handoff, snakes his way in and out of the paint, and then drops a no-look dime to Smart, who finishes on the other side of the rim.

Donovan Mitchell Gets the Best of Marcus Smart

Even for an All-NBA defender like Smart, Mitchell's a handful. Here, Spider goes right at him and gets the hoop plus the tax, converting at the free-throw line to make it a three-point play. Good defense by Smart, better offense by Mitchell.

Donovan Mitchell Delivers the Dagger

On a night where the Jazz made more threes than any opponent in Celtics history, plenty of those came on well-contested shots. That included Mitchell's dagger, splashing a step-back three over Horford, doing so from well beyond the three-point line, and putting Utah up by six with 28.2 seconds left. While there was enough time on the clock for Boston to come back, it left them with a razor-thin margin of error, and the Jazz went on to close out a 137-130 victory. 

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Bobby Krivitsky
BOBBY KRIVITSKY

Bobby Krivitsky's experiences include covering the NBA as a credentialed reporter for Basketball Insiders. He's also a national sports talk host for SportsMap Radio, a network airing on 96 radio stations throughout the country. Additionally, he was a major-market host, update anchor, and producer for IMG Audio, and he worked for Bleacher Report as an NFL and NBA columnist.

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