Three Takeaways From Utah Jazz’s Miraculous Win vs. Boston Celtics

The Utah Jazz, thanks to a last-second miracle from Jusuf Nurkic, and a season-best night from Keyonte George pulled out a big road win against the Boston Celtics that now lifts them to a 3-4 record on the season, while also breathing some much-needed life into the team after falling to three-straight losses heading into the night.

Here’s three key takeaways from the Jazz’s third win of the season in Boston:

Starting in his second contest of the season for the Jazz, Jusuf Nurkic was the hero who put this win in the bag for Utah in the final moments thanks to a clutch putback to leave 0.6 seconds to go on the clock from a Keyonte George miss, and inevitably kept this one from going into overtime.

In his 31 minutes on the floor, Nurkic had a double-double with 11 points and a team-leading 11 rebounds on a night the Jazz totally dominated the glass. Utah outrebounded the Celtics 55-36, and of course, had the cherry on top with a game-saving bucket.

You can’t talk about the Jazz’s win against Boston without mentioning the stellar play of Keyonte George.

George continued to have the hot-hand he’s kept throughout the beginning motions of this season, leading the Jazz with 31 points on 56.3% shooting from the field, paired with five rebounds and four assists in the process.

George has averaged career-highs in points, assists, steals, and field goal percentage through his first seven games of the year. If these past two weeks are a sign of anything to expect for the rest of the season, there’s reason to believe the Jazz could have a premier Most Improved Player candidate on their hands.

While the Jazz were able to put together a winning effort thanks to a strong second half and a last-second Nurkic game-winner, one major flaw on Utah’s roster presented itself once again: their lackluster three-point shooting.

Through six of the Jazz’s first seven games of the season, they’ve shot under 33% from three, ranking in the bottom three of the NBA. Against Boston, they shot 9-31 from deep as a team— good for 29.0% on the day, and one of their worst shooting days on the season thus far. Svi Mykhailiuk had a rough night, in particular, shooting 1-8 himself.

The shot is bound to come around for this Jazz roster filled with lots of offensive potential, but so far through seven games, things aren’t looking too hot from beyond the arc.

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