Celtics 101, Jazz 89

BOSTON (AP)—The Boston Celtics won consecutive games for the first time this season.

Now they head out for a five game trip hoping to improve on their 2-8 road record.

“It’s a step in the right direction. Hopefully it’s something we can build on,” Paul Pierce said.

Pierce scored 30 points and Ricky Davis added 20 to help the Boston Celtics beat the Utah Jazz 101-89 on Wednesday night.

Mehmet Okur led the Jazz with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Matt Harpring added 19 points and 10 rebounds.

“It was a winnable game for us,” Okur said. “We didn’t execute on the offensive end and we turned the ball over.”

Delonte West, who returned to the Celtics lineup after missing a game with a concussion scored 15 points and had five assists. Mark Blount scored 14 and Al Jefferson 10 points. The Celtics made 37 of their 45 free throw attempts and forced 20 Utah turnovers.

“I thought the difference in the game was that we had two turnovers in the second half, after going for a record it felt like in the first half,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “We scored 29 points off of turnovers ourselves and that is why we won the game.”

Gordan Giricek scored 14 points, Deron Williams 11 and Devin Brown 10 for the Jazz who are now 1-3 on their five game road trip, which finishes up in New York on Friday night.

“We were in the ball game,” Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. “I thought our guys played pretty hard. We got waxed pretty hard last night (a 110-85 lost to Cleveland), but I thought our guys played pretty hard tonight, but that’s the way it goes.”

Davis scored five points during a 13-0 run midway through the second quarter that gave the Celtics a 47-39 halftime lead.

Utah cut that lead to 60-55 with 5:59 left in the third following two free throws by Williams, but Davis scored seven points in the final 1:53 of the period to give Boston a 74-69.

Notes

The Celtics went 0-for-10 from behind the 3-point arc. It was the first time since March 11, 1999 when they were 0-6 in a 99-85 loss at Atlanta that they failed to make a 3-pointer in a game. The streak, the fourth longest in NBA history, reached 549 games… The Celtics swept the season series from the Jazz last season and have won 8 of the last 12 games between the teams. … Pierce has recorded 10 double-doubles this season which puts him on a pace to break his career-high of 19. … The Jazz are 2-12 when allowing 90 or more points on the road.