SALT LAKE CITY — Derrick Favors was not happy after Utah’s disappointing loss the previous night. He took it out on the Boston Celtics.
Favors had 23 points and 10 rebounds to help the Jazz beat the Celtics 111-93 on Friday night in the second game of a back-to-back.
“I was just trying to be aggressive,” Favors said. “I had a bad game in Washington and a lot of stuff was said, so I just wanted to come out and be aggressive and play my game.”
The Jazz were coming off a 103-89 loss to the Wizards on Thursday night.
“We didn’t play as good as we wanted to last night in Washington, so we just wanted to come out, set the tempo early, be aggressive and try to get a win.”
Utah, which snapped a two-game skid, pulled away midway through the third quarter with a 10-0 stretch to take a 79-62 lead. Trevor Booker’s fast-break dunk and Favors’ layup in traffic capped the run.
Gordon Hayward finished with 22 points for the Jazz, while Rudy Gobert had 11 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots. Favors also had a career-high six assists.
“The first thing, maybe, is for (Favors) to say I’m not going to worry about someone getting me to do it,” Jazz Coach Quin Snyder said. “I’m going to focus. I’m going to keep doing that. He can do that.
“We can keep trying to encourage him, but part of his maturation as a player is just having that level of focus. … Be precise. Because when he’s precise, he’s usually really forceful. That’s hard to deal with as strong and as big as he is — when he plays that way and imposes his will.”
The Celtics shot poorly all night and finished at 37 percent from the field. Their last lead came at 10-9 early in the first quarter.
Isaiah Thomas had 25 points and six assists fresh off his All-Star appearance. Jae Crowder chipped in 17 points and Avery Bradley had 12. Jared Sullinger was just short of a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds.
The Jazz led just 54-49 at halftime despite one of their more efficient halves of the season. Utah shot 60 percent from the field and hit 9 of 13 from 3-point range. A 6-0 run, highlighted by Rodney Hood’s 3, pushed the lead to 49-39.
Eight first-half turnovers kept the Jazz from extending the lead. The Celtics scored seven points off those turnovers and didn’t commit one of their own in the first half.
Boston shot just 36 percent in the first half.
“There shouldn’t be any rust, I don’t think it was rust,” Celtics Coach Brad Stevens said. “I just think we did not play very well. I thought they had a lot to do with that. I thought they played great.
“I thought they hit us in the mouth and kept hitting us in the mouth for 46 minutes. We reached and grabbed instead of held our ground. That is what happens.”
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