When Brad Stevens saw that Jae Crowder was to be traded to the Utah Jazz last month, he had a feeling: It was going to be a perfect fit.
Before Stevens’ Celtics took on the Jazz on Wednesday night, he called Crowder “a winner.”
And Crowder almost proved his old coach right.
The midseason Jazz trade acquisition had another impactful night off the bench, scoring 16 points and helping pick up Utah after a stagnant second quarter. But for the first time this season, the Jazz lost with Crowder scoring that many points or more — they previously 10-0 when he had at least 12 points.
There were moments where the game seemed personal to Crowder, and surely it was. While he had faced the team that traded him away last summer before, he took a special pleasure in amping up the crowd, or running the floor with the three-ball sign on both hands.
But after the Jazz suffered the 97-94 defeat, Crowder might’ve been a little emotional, too. By the time reporters entered the locker room, minutes after the game, he had left.
But others on the Jazz spoke for him, saying he gave the team a chance with his spirited play — as he often does.
“He was one guy that really caught the ball ready and attacked the rim,” coach Quin Snyder “We value his competitiveness. I think that’s something that he’s been able to provide our team. You can see it, you can feel it at certain times of the game.”
Against the Celtics, that time was the second half: Crowder had 14 points on 6-for- 10 shooting after halftime, helping spur a dominant 32-19 third quarter for the Jazz. His energy was also felt in other areas, where he added four rebounds and two steals.
It was especially important in this game, when the Jazz were flummoxed by Boston’s switch to the zone defense. After several tentative possessions against the zone, Crowder helped the team find a rhythm by attacking it, taking a page from his Marquette days in an effort to beat Stevens, the coach who helped coax the best years of his career.
“That’s what he always does,” Mitchell said. “He’s slashing and finding ways to get open. But that’s him, hitting big shots, playing defense one through four, he’s pretty tough.”
That’s what Stevens saw in Crowder’s fit in Utah. And while he tasted defeat on Wednesday night, he still left room for optimism that there are better nights for him ahead in a Jazz uniform.
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