Jonas Jerebko came up huge for the Jazz in his return to Boston


Our old pal Jonas Jerebko road into town last night and came up big for the banged up Utah Jazz, helping them to a win over the Celtics. Both Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors left last night's game in the 1st half, instantly expanding Jerbeko's role against his old team. Jerebko responding by shooting 6 for 8 from the field for a season high 17 points and pulled down 7 rebounds along with a pair of steals and a block.


Jerebko is actually having himself a solid season thus far in Salt Lake City. He's averaging just 2 minutes more a game than he did with the Celtics just a season ago, but his scoring has nearly doubled (from 3.8ppg last year to 6.7ppg for the Jazz). This, in large part, is because his outside shooting has been way up. Jonas is shooting a career best 45.6% percent from three, while taking more attempts from the outside as well. He's averaging an even 5 shots from deep a night, up from 3.4 a year ago.

Another area of improvement for Jerbeko this season has been his presence in the paint on the defensive end. He was always a solid defender during his time with the C's, but this season his defense around the bucket has been near the top guys in the NBA in opponent FG%:


Before last night's game, Jonas said he holds no ill-will to the Celtics for not re-signing him this past offseason, and he cherishes the time he spent in Boston, the organization, and the fans:


He echoed that sentiment again after the Jazz pulled out the win:




Photo Credit - USA Today

Follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkAL401




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