The Celtics were down to ten active players for the second straight game on Sunday afternoon, but that didn't stop them from putting up a fight at the TD Garden.
Al Horford hit a game-winning turnaround jumparound as time expired, capping a 16-point comeback as the Celtics fought their way to a 97-96 win over the Blazers, their fourth consecutive victory.
Horford led the turnaround with a balanced all-around effort (22 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists) and Jayson Tatum (17 points) and Jaylen Brown (16 points) were key contributors down the stretch as the Celtics overcame the absence of Kyrie Irving, Marcus Smart, Marcus Morris and Shane Larkin to take down a Blazers squad that was at full strength.
GAME: No. 54 of 82:
WHO: Celtics (38-15) vs. Blazers (29-23)
WHEN: 12:00 EST
WHERE: TD Garden
RADIO: 98.5 the Sports Hub
TV: NBC SPORTS BOSTON
Projected starters
Celtics
PG: Terry Rozier
SG: Jaylen Brown
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Al Horford
C: Aron Baynes
Inactive: Marcus Smart (hand), Marcus Morris (butt) Kyrie Irving (quad), Shane Larkin (knee) are all out.
Blazers
PG: Damian Lillard
SG: C.J. McCollum
F: Evan Turner
F: Al-Farouq Aminu
C: Jusuf Nurkic
First Half Notes
- This wasn't a pretty affair early for the Celtics. Cold shooting and flat defense from the undermanned first unit helped Blazers built a nine-point lead early in the frame.
- Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier weren't firing well from the outside early, which had Brad Stevens throwing darts by going deep into his bench right away.
- Guerschon Yabusele and Abdel Nader showed some nice aggression from 3-point range (a combined (3-of-7 from deep) which helped trim a 12-point Blazers lead to three midway through the second quarter.
- Semi Ojeleye continues his outside shooting struggles despite getting big minutes early over Aron Baynes for spacing purposes. He went 0-of-4 from deep in the first half.
- Baynes continues to battle down low with his offense. He's really struggled in the last month in the post despite a solid night on Friday.
- Some nice offense from Tatum early but C's need him to be more aggressive in the first half. He only took six shot attempts in first half.
- Celtics shot just 23.8 percent from inside the arc in the first half. They shot 39 percent from deep, which kept them in the game.
- Blazers closed out the half on a 12-1 run. CJ McCollum and Mo Harkless have been red hot through the first half.
- Kyrie Irving (quad) and Marcus Morris are progressing with their injury rehab and will travel with the team to Toronto. They could play as soon as Tuesday.
- Shane Larkin (knee) is still bothered by his injury. The team will shut him down for the week to try to gain some improvement with his condition. He likely won't play again until after All-Star break.
- The Celtics still have not signed Greg Monroe. As I reported last week, the team could wait until after the trade deadline to sign him to maintain flexibility.
- This will be the Celtics 10th straight game on Super Bowl Sunday. They've won seven of their last night contests on that date.