"We Didn't Raise That Level" | Utah Struggles In Loss To Boston

Throughout the course of an 82-game NBA season, nights like Wednesday are bound to happen. Unfortunately for the Utah Jazz, it came at a very inopportune time.

Locked in a fierce battle for playoff positioning in the Western Conference, the Jazz suffered one of their worst defeats of the season when they fell 125-97 on the road to the red-hot Boston Celtics.

“We didn’t raise that level, we didn’t play that way,” Snyder said. “It’s good for us to face an opponent that is elite defensively because I think it shows us how committed we have to be to the way we play in order to have success.”

Donovan: 37p | 6r | 3 3pm | 8-8 ftm | 2s
Rudy: 14p | 11r | 6-6 ftm
EP: 11p | 2a
JC: 10p | 4r | 2s
Mike: 9p | 4r | 3a | 1s
Royce: 6p | 4r | 2 3pm | 2a | 2s
Hassan: 5p | 5r | 1b#TakeNote | @getcoinzoom pic.twitter.com/O7ov2Ma6vq

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 24, 2022

With the loss, the Jazz still sit in the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, tied with the Dallas Mavericks — both teams will meet on Sunday in Dallas. Utah trails Golden State by three games for the No. 3 seed following the Warriors’ victory over Miami.

But the playoffs are far from Utah’s mind after what took place at TD Garden on Wednesday night.

From the opening tip, the Jazz struggled to deal with Boston’s pressure on defense as they never looked comfortable on the court. Because of the struggles offensively, it led to easy transition buckets for the Celtics, who began the game 10-for-10 from the field and established a rhythm early.

Playing catch up the rest of the way, Utah was never able to make a real comeback as they trailed by 20 early in the second quarter and never got it closer the remainder of the game.

“What we did defensively, we weren’t as focused collectively in that area,” Snyder said. “Both ends of the floor affect one another, and we had a rough night on both ends. We are also a team over the course of the year that’s one of the best offensive teams, but we do that by playing a certain way, and that’s the way that we need to play.”

Mike Rudy down the lane pic.twitter.com/kE7xNO86Er

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 23, 2022

If there was a bright spot for the Jazz, it came in the form of all-star guard Donovan Mitchell.

Mitchell continues to elevate his offensive game as he finished with a game-high 37 points — his fourth-straight game scoring 30 points or more. He also added six rebounds and two steals.

While he struggled shooting the ballroom three-point territory, Mitchell relentlessly attacked the rim and finished 10-for-12 shooting from within the arc. His aggressiveness in getting into the paint was also reflected in his 8-for-8 shooting from the free throw line.

| A game-high 37 points for #TakeNote | @ZionsBank pic.twitter.com/0c8hn32B66

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 24, 2022

Rudy Gobert finished with a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Jordan Clarkson added 10 points. Starting in place of the injured Bojan Bogdanovic, Eric Paschall finished with 11 points.

Utah will now have 48 hours to figure things out as they continue their six-game road trip against LaMelo Ball and the streaking Charlotte Hornets. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. MST on Friday night.

“It’s a team game and everyone needs each other,” Snyder said. “This is the level we need to find to be successful on both ends of the floor. … We found it, but we need to find it more consistently.”

“I believe in this group,” Gobert added. “If I didn’t believe it, I wouldn’t be here. … If it was easy, it wouldn’t be fun.”