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#1 The excellent defensive play exhibited on the night
This was a showdown between the 2 best defenses in the league this season - the Celtics are #1 with a defensive rating of 101.2 points per 100 possessions conceded, while the Jazz are #2 with a rating of 102.0.
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To neutralize the effect of the Twin Towers (Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert), the Celtics played a 2-3 zone and managed to restrict the Jazz to 41.5% shooting and only 82 shot attempts through 48 minutes. Aron Baynes, in particular, did an excellent job of holding the likes of Gobert and Favors to just 5 and 6 field goal attempts respectively.
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The Jazz defense was anchored excellently by the best defensive player in the league this season: Rudy Gobert. The wing players on the Jazz defensive schemes funneled all the offensive traffic into Gobert's path, and the sight of the Stifle tower caused many Celtics players driving into the lane to forgo shot attempts and pass it out instead.
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