Celtics vs. Jazz: Celts welcome Al Jefferson, Utah back to Boston

Al Jefferson was as big a part of the Boston Celtics' championship run in 2008 as the man he was traded for, Kevin Garnett. Sure, it was Garnett that formed a super team with longtime Celtic Paul Pierce and gun-for-hire Ray Allen that went on to light the league on fire that year, but without Jefferson, Boston would not have been able to land the Big Ticket. Translation: no championship.

Jefferson comes back to TD Garden, a place where he hasn't played a home game since 2007, with his Utah Jazz tfor a battle with Boston on Wednesday.

Utah is 4-4 on the young season, but has won its last two -- both on the road. Jefferson played a big role in both of those victories, a 94-81 win over the Phoenix Suns and a wild 140-133 triple overtime win against the Toronto Raptors on Monday. Jefferson led the Jazz with 27 points and 14 rebounds in the win over Phoenix while tallying 24 points and 17 rebounds in the Toronto game. Through eight games, Jefferson is averaging 15.2 points and 11.5 boards.

Boston enters Wednesday night's contest riding a two-game winning streak and having won four of its last five games. On Monday, the Celtics took a 101-95 win from the Chicago Bulls, who nearly completed a comeback from a 14-point deficit but fell short. Rajon Rondo led the Celts with 20 points and 10 assists, extending his streak of game with 10 or more assists to 31. Brandon Bass had 16 points, Kevin Garnett totaled 15 points, Jason Terry amassed 13 points and Celtics leading scorer Paul Pierce finished with only 10 points in the win.

Wednesday's game tip off at 7:30 p.m. ET and will air on CSNNE and WEEI.

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