It's blues for Celtics as Jazz plays on smoothly

Salt Lake City:  The Utah Jazz put the brakes on Boston's bid for a fifth successive win on Monday with a 110-97 victory over the Atlantic division leaders.

The Jazz were hammered 105-86 by the Celtics on November 11 but turned the tables on the back of 22 points and 11 assists from Deron Williams and 23 points from C.J. Miles.

"Boston gave us a lesson in defence over there [in November]," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan told reporters. "I thought everybody was focused to try and play the game together tonight."

The Jazz (46-25) trailed by five at halftime but started the third quarter with a 16-4 run. Mehmet Okur, who sat out a game due to illness, grabbed 15 rebounds and 11 of his 14 points in the third.

Pretty electric

"They started that third quarter pretty electric," Boston forward Kevin Garnett said.

"As many times as I've played here they have always been able to come back out. They came out with some energy, made shots and executed."

Ray Allen's 15 points led the Celtics (45-25), who could not overcome poor shooting from their key players. Paul Pierce had 11 points.

The Celtics seemed to unravel in the second half and coach Doc Rivers was ejected after receiving two technical fouls in the final minutes.