Celtics aim for 50th win, target Blazers
THE Boston Celtics are looking to become the first team to reach the 50-win mark this season when they visit the Portland Trail Blazers Monday evening.
Boston just ended its second two-game losing streak all season with a 117-107 road victory Saturday night against the Phoenix Suns.
The Celtics reeled off 11 straight wins before the tough stretch that included losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the defending champion Denver Nuggets to begin a five-game road trip.
Boston star forward Jayson Tatum said the win in Phoenix was a must.
“We’re not perfect. We try to be, we really try,” Tatum said. “But we make mistakes. It’s a difficult league, the other teams are really good and have great players. It all depends on how you react.
“You want to be a special team, you have to do a good job responding.”
Tatum scored 13 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter against the Suns.
Tatum was not impressed with his game as a whole. Although he made five 3-pointers, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out seven assists, he was just 11 of 28 from the field and committed four turnovers.
“I finally stopped turning the ball over,” Tatum said afterward. “I’m grateful I had great teammates because I sucked.”
Jaylen Brown added 27 points for Boston, which also benefited from strong contributions off the bench from Luke Kornet (14 points on 6-of-7 shooting) and Payton Pritchard (10 points).
“They’ve been unbelievable, they’ve been great,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said of the reserve duo. “I thought Payton was a game-changer with his defense.”
Boston big man Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring) missed Saturday’s game.
The Celtics have won six of their last eight meetings with Portland. This is the teams’ first meeting this season, and they will play again in Boston on April 7.
The Trail Blazers enter Monday on a high note after ending their nine-game losing streak at home with a Saturday 128-118 overtime win over the Toronto Raptors. It was Portland’s first home win since beating the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 31, spoiling Damian’s return to Lillard.
Against Toronto, Deandre Ayton returned from a five-game absence due to a hand injury and scored a season-high 30 points while grabbing 19 rebounds in the victory.
“He was just a game-changer for us,” Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said of Ayton. “He occupied the paint, he grabbed all the rebounds. If it happened in his zone, he snatched it. And then just the fact that he was able to score was a big deal.
“He relieves so much stress for our guards. … Any time you get in trouble somewhere, just being able to talk (to Ayton) about it is a luxury.”
Rookie Scoot Henderson also returned to the lineup and had 13 points and five assists. He missed eight games with an adductor injury.
Dalano Banton scored 25 points against Toronto, one game after posting a career-high 30 against the Houston Rockets. Anfernee Simons added 23 points as Portland won for the third time in the last six games.
The Trail Blazers led by 21 points before the Raptors rallied late to force overtime. But Portland started the extra session with a 13-1 run to finish off Toronto.
“We were locked in,” Ayton said. “‘This game will be ours,’ that was our attitude. Our defense was pretty good at defending in the half court and we just needed to go back and slow them down a little on the offensive end. We just had to make sure that we were on the glass, don’t give them any more possessions. That’s what winning basketball is all about.”
Portland forward Jerami Grant (hamstring) has missed the last two games.
–Field level media
Copyright 2024 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and the Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
