Multiple people saying the transitive property "never" works in sports. "Never" seems a bit strong, given that it actually has worked at times.
As for Boston missing 3 of 5 starters, Rob's been out almost the entire year, so I don't think it's fair to count his absence—Boston's won plenty of games this year without Rob, and against better competition. Besides, Boston still had Tatum, Brown, Brogdon, and White, which is more talent than Utah has. Boston needed only one more bucket to win that game, and should've been able to do that.