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SALT LAKE CITY — It was a long-awaited night for Svi Mykhailiuk.
Before the Utah Jazz took on the Boston Celtics on Monday at TD Garden, Mykhailiuk was presented with his NBA championship ring from his run with the Celtics last season.
And it was Mykhailiuk's deep pull-up 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter that provided an early sign that things might get weird in Boston. That deep triple was part of Utah shooting 7-for-8 from 3-point range that helped erase a 24-point deficit and tie the game at 103-103.
Boston, though, was able to save the Jazz from themselves with a late surge to pull away for a 114-108 win and hand Utah its sixth straight loss. With the loss, the Jazz became the first team to be eliminated from postseason contention — not that they've been trying to get there.
In fact, Monday was an oddity that Utah had some of its top players actually on the court.
John Collins led the Jazz with 28 points and 10 rebounds, Collin Sexton added 16 points and 13 assists, and Walker Kessler added 11 points and 10 rebounds as the usual starters returned to the lineup after missing games due to some tanking shenanigans.
Brice Sensabaugh scored 17 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter as he tried to push the Jazz to the improbable comeback.
"Incredibly proud of the team's effort, the way they carried themselves, their competitiveness, digging themselves back in the game," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "I think this is the best game we've played in a while. We didn't shoot the ball well — we go hot late — but I thought the way we played, the shots that we generated, the defense in general was very good, I thought the team executed at a really high level."
It's probably not a coincidence that such a game came when Utah allowed more of its regular starters to, you know, play. That pushed everyone back into more of their normal roles.
Hardy said he has sensed physical, mental and emotional fatigue as the long injury reports have continued. But while that hasn't led to the greatest results — the Jazz are well on their way to securing some good lottery odds — he hopes that it has provided a lesson for his young team.
"It's good for the young players to feel that and to go through that, because they understand what it's going to take to have the role they want long term," He said.
Some more lessons came on Monday against the reigning champions.
The Jazz botched a defensive rebound off a missed free throw that led to a Boston 3, and a turnover on their next possession led to a transition 3-pointer. That 6-point swing, essentially, decided the game.
"Those are really good learning moments for our group as we continue to try to understand and grow into a winning team," Hardy said.
In a similar sense, Hardy thinks it's been good for Mykhailiuk to be on the team this season. Hardy thinks his experience has allowed him to show Utah's prospects what it takes to compete at the highest levels.
Mykhailiuk didn't play a major role in last year's title-winning Boston team — he played in just 41 games and only got in for mop up duty in the playoffs — but the experience taught him what was necessary to go on a deep playoff run.
"I think his experience after being in this environment is really helpful for our young players, because Svi has seen and felt where we want to go," Hardy said.
And now he has a ring to prove it.
