Celtics get back to work in Utah

Basketball Betting Lines

02/19/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics kick off the second half of their season tonight by resuming a torturous six-game road trip in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz.

The Celtics improved to 2-0 on the trek before the All-Star break when Paul Pierce outscored the Mavericks in the final period, pouring in 18 of his 31 points down the stretch as Boston rallied to claim a 99-92 victory over Dallas last Thursday.

Boston outscored the Mavs, 30-17, in the final 12 minutes, led by plenty of daggers from Pierce. The All-Star's two biggest came in the closing minute- plus, with a fall-away jumper giving the Celtics a 93-91 edge with 1:12 on the clock and another tough mid-range bucket pushing the lead to four with 38.5 ticks to play.

Rajon Rondo allowed Boston to hang on in the early going, registering his second career triple-double. He finished with 19 points to go along with 14 assists and a team-best 15 rebounds, and achieved the feat with 53.2 seconds still left in the third quarter.

Kevin Garnett added 16 points and five rebounds and Ray Allen had 20 points, as Boston, which headed into the break with the most victories in the league at 44-11, has won three of four overall.

The C's have also won nine straight on the road and are 20-7 on the year as the visitor and will finish their current swing with games against Phoenix, Denver and the LA Clippers.

The Celtics did receive some bad news off the court, however. The team's top bench player, the athletic Tony Allen, underwent surgery to repair ligaments in his left thumb on Wednesday and will miss the next eight weeks.

The 6-foot-4 Allen is currently in his fifth season with the Celtics and is averaging 7.8 points and 1.25 steals in 19.1 minutes per game.

The Jazz, meanwhile, improved to 2-0 on a five-game homestand on Tuesday when C.J. Miles scored a game-best 24 points, Deron Williams added 20 and Utah welcomed Andrei Kirilenko back to the lineup in a 117-99 rout of Memphis.

Kirilenko, who missed 11 games after undergoing ankle surgery, played 17 1/2 high-energy minutes with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Ronnie Brewer chipped in 19 points and Williams added 15 assists to his point total. Paul Millsap tallied 18 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.

"He (Kirilenko) made a big steal and then on the other end had a big basket and then blocked a couple of shots. That was something that we missed with him," Utah head coach Jerry Sloan said of Kirilenko.

Star forward Carlos Boozer (knee) remains out for the Jazz but center Mehmet Okur, who missed the win over Memphis with the flu, is expected back tonight.

Utah won its ninth consecutive game against Memphis and improved to an impressive 22-6 at home this season. It will conclude its homestand against New Orleans and Atlanta.

The Jazz had a 37-4 record at EnergySolutions Arena last season, the NBA's best home mark, but the Celtics were responsible for one of those losses. -- a 104-98 triumph on December 29, 2007. Overall, the Celtics have won two of their past three games with the Jazz, including a 100-91 win in Boston earlier this season.