Boston Celtics 97-94 Utah Jazz: 5 talking points

#2 Boston's bench players shine

(Image courtesy: desertnews.com)

The absence of all 3 of the All-Stars on the Boston roster of late has thrust much more responsibility onto the role players on the team than was envisioned before tipoff this season. The likes of Jaylen Brown and rookie Jayson Tatum have responded magnificently and their play has been well-covered by the mainstream media, but even the rest of the roster upped its level of play on the night to compensate for the absence of Al Horford, Marcus Morris and Kyrie Irving. Not to mention Gordon Hayward, who was forced to miss the entire season from Game 1 of the regulars eason.

5'11" Shane Larkin led the Celtics in rebounding with 9 boards, while also dishing out 4 assists and scoring 10 points. Semi Ojeleye, Greg Monroe, and Abdel Nader combined for 21 points off the bench. Their high IQ movement, effort, and hustle on both ends of the floor meant that the Boston bench unit often outshone the Jazz's favored 5-man lineup of Mitchell, Ingles, Crowder, Rubio, and Gobert