Jaylen Brown-led rally falls short as sloppy Celtics fall to Jazz

Zack Cox, Boston Herald on Nov 3, 2025

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BOSTON — A furious, Jaylen Brown-led comeback couldn’t save the Boston Celtics from an ugly loss Monday night at TD Garden.

Brown scored eight of his 36 points in the final three minutes to erase a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit, but the Celtics could not complete the comeback, losing to the Utah Jazz, 105-103.

Neemias Queta missed a free throw with 24.8 seconds remaining, and Jusuf Nurkic scored the game-winning bucket off one of Utah’s 15 offensive rebounds on the ensuing possession. Boston’s last gasp ended with Brown being called for an offensive foul, sealing the win for the rebuilding Jazz.

Despite Utah playing without injured leading rebounder Walker Kessler, the Celtics were outrebounded 55-36 in the game. They also endured one of their worst 3-point shooting performances of the Joe Mazzulla era, shooting 21.5% from deep (11 for 51).

Jazz guard Keyonte George scored 31 points on 9-of-16 shooting and went 11 for 13 from the foul line to lead all scorers.

Boston will look to bounce back against another projected lottery team when the Washington Wizards visit Causeway Street on Wednesday.

The Celtics sprinted out to a double-digit first-quarter lead fueled by 3-pointers from Derrick White, Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser. Hauser had been his usual efficient self from beyond the arc this season (45.1% entering Monday), but the hot start appeared encouraging for White and Pritchard, who’ve entered the game ranked second-to-last and last in 3-point shooting percentage among all players with at least 35 attempts.

Then, the 3s stopped falling, and that Celtics cushion quickly evaporated. After jumping ahead 10-0, Boston proceeded to miss nine of its next 10 3-point attempts, including five straight misses by Brown. Utah got to within three late in the first quarter and tied the game at 27-27 early in the second.

Neither White nor Hauser made another triple until midway through the fourth quarter, combining to miss 10 straight after their early makes. Pritchard started 3 for 4 from deep but misfired his next six.

After Utah’s rally, Anfernee Simons (15 points) gave the Celtics some breathing room with three big plays in quick succession. The undersized sixth man played quality defense on a driving Lauri Markkanen to help force a turnover, then buried 3-pointers on back-to-back Celtics possessions.

Josh Minott, making his fifth consecutive start for Boston, followed those up with an acrobatic putback dunk off a Brown miss. Minott also was the player primarily responsible for defending Markkanen — the only recent All-Star on Utah’s roster — and the 7-foot-1 big man managed just six first-half points on 3-for-12 shooting. Overall, it was one of the best defensive halves of the season for the Celtics, who held the Jazz to 36 points on 31.3% shooting and led by 10 at halftime despite shooting just 39.1% themselves (and 7 for 28 from 3).

Fouls were an issue for Minott, however; he picked up three in the first half and another nine seconds into his first third-quarter shift, limiting his playing time.

The opening nine minutes of the second half were a slog for the Celtics, who looked disjointed offensively and struggled to corral George. The third-year guard converted multiple driving layups over White, the NBA’s top shot-blocker at his position, and drilled a step-back 3 while being blanketed by Baylor Scheierman. Markkanen began to heat up, as well, and Utah pulled ahead for the first time.

The Celtics got the spark they needed when, after Joe Mazzulla called a timeout with his team trailing 66-61, Brown scored two contested 2-pointers in 13 seconds, drawing a foul on the second. Those bookended a standout defensive play by Scheierman and Chris Boucher, who raced back to foil a fast break by Ace Bailey.

Boucher then hit a 3-pointer — his first in a Celtics uniform after an 0 for 8 start to his tenure — to put Boston up 70-66. But that also was the only 3 any Celtics player made in the third quarter — or the first several minutes of the fourth, for that matter. By the time White and Pritchard finally regained their rhythm with 3s on consecutive trips, the Jazz had built a 12-point lead with just over seven minutes to play.

Brown’s 3-point stroke never materialized (he finished 0 for 9 from deep), but he keyed Boston’s rally by aggressively attacking both the basket and Utah’s ball-handlers. He made three field goals at the rim in the final 5:13 and drew a foul on another, setting up one of his buckets by stealing the ball from Elijah Harkless at the other end.

Six straight points from Brown trimmed Utah’s lead to one with 2:20 remaining, and a 3 by White put the Celtics ahead 99-98. But Boston couldn’t close.

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