BOSTON — The Boston Celtics rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit and pulled out their 11th straight home victory, a 100-95 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday night.
Forward Jae Crowder drained a 3-pointer with 30.4 seconds left for the go-ahead points. Guard Avery Bradley then blocked a shot by Utah’s Gordon Hayward and then went 3-for-4 from the foul line around a key offensive rebound by forward Amir Johnson to put it away.
The home streak is Boston’s first 11-gamer since Jan. 27-March 16, 2013 and the win avenges a 111-93 drubbing the Celtics (36-25) suffered at the in Salt Lake City just 11 days earlier.
The loss was the third straight and sixth in the last eight games for the Jazz (28-31).
Newly acquired guard Shelvin Mack put the Jazz ahead twice late, with a basket with two minutes left and a 3-pointer with 49.5 seconds remaining.
But the Celtics scored the last seven points of the game and opened a four-game homestand with their third straight victory.
Crowder led all scorers with 22 points while Bradley and fellow starting guard Isaiah Thomas both scored 18. Thomas also had nine assists for the Celtics, who also got 10 points and six rebounds off the bench from center Tyler Zeller, eight points and nine rebounds from forward Jared Sullinger and nine rebounds from Johnson.
Mack and forward Trey Lyles led the Jazz with 18 points apiece and Hayward scored 16 but was just 6-for-20 from the floor. Forward Derrick Favors grabbed 16 rebounds and scored 11 points while center Rudy Gobert scored 12 points and hauled down 12 boards.
Down by 13 in the second quarter, the Celtics, with little-used rookie forward Jordan Mickey coming off the bench to help, ran off 11 straight points to get back into the game. They were down five and called timeout with 5.8 seconds left in the half when Thomas drove all the way for a half-ending layup and it was three at the break.
The teams went back and forth in the third and the Celtics couldn’t get their first lead since 5-4 until Zeller scored to make it 77-76 in the middle of a 9-0 run with 10:19 left in the fourth. Utah scored six straight points to go ahead with 5:23 left and the closing battle was on.
NOTES: Utah F Gordon Hayward and newly acquired Jazz G Shelvin Mack were also teammates under current Celtics coach Brad Stevens at Butler. … “Anytime you have two guys that have a good feel for the game, they integrate, I’m talking just about basketball,” Utah coach Quin Snyder said. “At the same time, the familiarity I think accelerates that. But I haven’t seen them wearing Bulldog colors or anything like that. I know they appreciate one another. … Utah F Trevor Booker missed the game to attend his grandmother’s funeral in South Carolina and will rejoin the team for Wednesday night’s game at Toronto. … Stevens on his team’s 18-point loss in Utah Feb. 19: “We’ve been in every game with the exception of that one in the last two months.” … The Jazz ran up a 51-34 rebounding advantage in that game but then lost three of the next four games heading to Boston.