Jaylen Brown had 36 points to lead Boston but was 0 for 9 from the 3-point line and committed a costly offensive foul that took away what would have been Boston’s final chance. The Celtics made just 11 of 51 3-pointers.
Keyonte George poured in 31 points for the Jazz, who won despite committing 18 turnovers.
The Jazz surged back in the third quarter behind 16 powerful points by George and took a 74-72 lead to the fourth.
Utah started the period with a 16-7 run that was capped by a Kevin Love layup that made it 90-79, igniting some uneasy groans from a restless Garden crowd. Three-pointers by Derrick White and Pritchard gave Boston some momentum, and then Brown took over. His 3-point play pulled Boston within 95-90 with 5:13 left, and he followed it with a pair of free throws, a layup, and a steal and another layup. Then with the score tied at 99, Brown surged into the lane and hit a 12-footer that gave Boston a 2-point lead with 1:23 left.
With the score tied at 101, the Jazz committed a costly defensive 3-second technical and White’s free throw gave Boston the lead. But George stumbled in front of Brown on the ensuing play, and Brown fell, too, before the Jazz capitalized with a fast break that ended with a Lauri Markkanen layup.
An unsettled possession ended with Brown finding Neemias Queta, who was fouled inside with 24 seconds left. He hit the first free throw but missed the second.
At the other end, with the score tied, George ran the clock down and missed a jumper from the right baseline. But Nurkic scooped up the offensive rebound and scored the winning basket.
Brown was called for an offensive foul on the ensuing inbounds pass, wiping away the Celtics’ final chance.
White, who entered Monday shooting just 30.8 percent from the field and 25 percent from the 3-point line, started this game in encouraging fashion when he pulled up for a 3-pointer.
But that didn’t really unlock much. Through three quarters, White did not score again.
Still, the Celtics started the night with a strong 10-0 run and took a 14-2 lead on a Payton Pritchard turnaround jumper with 6:58 left in the first quarter. Boston’s work on the offensive glass was once again impactful, with Queta leading the way. He had five rebounds in the first four minutes, including a putback during that early burst.
The Celtics had less success from long range, however. Seventeen of their 23 first-quarter shots were 3-pointers, and they connected on just four.
Brown had a scorching start from the arc this season, but he followed up his 0 for 2 performance against the Rockets on Saturday by going 0 for 5 in the first half Monday, wiping away some of his favorable early results.
The Jazz got back into the game with their work in the paint. Walter Clayton found Taylor Hendricks cutting through the lane for a dunk that tied the score at 27 with 8:18 left in the second quarter and led to a Boston timeout.
The respite seemed to be helpful. The Celtics regained control with a 16-2 flurry that was sparked by an energized defense. Queta bothered Markkanen inside and out. He challenged Markkanen at the rim and forced a tough, contested 2-pointer that was not close.
Finally, White smothered George’s pull-up jumper, forcing a shot-clock violation that was one of Utah’s 10 first-half turnovers. The Celtics took a 46-36 lead to halftime despite making just 7 of 27 3-pointers. The Jazz were 15 for 48 from the field (31.3 percent).
Still, the Jazz lingered, and with no player on either team seizing control in the first half, there was an opening for one surge to flip things fairly quickly. Then George stepped forward.
He hit three acrobatic layups before drilling a 3-pointer in the left corner with 3:29 left in the third quarter — part of his 16-point flurry — to give Utah a 66-61 lead, its largest. Meanwhile, the Celtics’ 3-point woes continued.
They were just 1 for 10 from long range in the quarter, dropping them to 8 for 38 in the game, and the Jazz took a 74-72 lead to the fourth.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.
