The shorthanded Celtics fought their way back from a 12-point fourth quarter deficit against one of the hottest teams in the Western Conference, outscoring the Blazers 38-23 in the final frame to come away with a 105-100 win at the Moda Center.
Marcus Morris scored a game-high 30 points, one shy of his season high to lead the visitors. Jayson Tatum added 10 fourth-quarter points, while Shane Larkin chipped in with nine points and a team-high seven assists in 34 minutes off the bench. The win came despite Boston missing four key rotation players including Jaylen Brown, Kyrie Irving, Marcus Smart and Daniel Theis for the second straight game.
C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard led the hosts with 26 points each for a Blazers team that won 18 of their last 20 games at home.
GAME: No. 72 of 82
WHO: Celtics (48-23) vs. Blazers (43-29)
WHEN: 10:00 p.m.
WHERE: Moda Center
RADIO: 100.7 WZLX
TV: NBC Sports Boston, NBATV
Celtics
PG: Terry Rozier
SG: Jayson Tatum
SF: Marcus Morris
PF: Al Horford
C: Aron Baynes
Blazers
PG: Damian Lillard
SG: CJ McCollum
F: Mo Harkless
F: Al-Farouq Aminu
C: Jusuf Nurkic
Second Half Notes
- Tatum's struggles continued in the third quarter as he failed to break the ice and hit a field goal attempt through three frames.
- Marcus Morris and Aron Baynes showed a lot of fight on the boards early but McCollum and Lillard good cooking on the offensive end and slowly helped to build a 12-point lead as they started abusing Tatum, Rozier and the C's help defense.
- With the starters looking spent, Brad Stevens went with an unorthodox lineup for the final three minutes of the third quarter and most of the fourth, alternating Morris and Tatum with Larkin/Ojeleye/Monroe/Yabusele. Incredibly, the unique look worked for the C's. They scrapped their way on the defensive end to stops, while Larkin and Tatum carried the load on the offensive end.
- By the time the starters were ready to come back, the lead was trimmed to two.
- The C's really could have used Jaylen Brown in this game, since their only two guards that could really handle McCollum and Lillard were Rozier and Larkin. When either of those guys rested, the Blazers took advantage with their aggression by picking on Tatum or Ojeleye.
- It took awhile but Al Horford finally showed up for the final six minutes of the fourth quarter. His D was good all night but he had a great offensive stops against Nurkic and Lillard and managed to play Nurkic off the floor but stretching the floor with 3s.
- Just incredible execution by everyone down the stretch of this game. Morris with a monster 3 with the wing to put Cs ahead 5, Tatum gets an easy dunk on a cut and finishes with 10
- Brad Stevens sticks with his usual starting five without Jaylen Brown, which means a very tough defensive assignment for Jayson Tatum against CJ McCollum. The 6-foot-8 forward had a rough time chasing around the sharpshooting guard around screens early in this game before Brad Stevens threw in the towel and went with Shane Larkin.
- Injury scare early in the first quarter when Marcus Morris turned his ankle and was hobbling for a few possessions. He took himself out and headed to the locker room but returned after getting the ankle re-taped.
- The return of Morris was much needed since the C's offense really didn't have much going early. Jayson Tatum had trouble creating separation against a tough Blazers D, while Terry Rozier took a few questionable shots early. Meanwhile, Morris continues to be red-hot from downtown, going 3-of-4 from deep.
- Guerschon Yabusele got an extended look at minutes in place of Semi Ojeleye in the injury rotation and the early returns were promising. He brought his usual energy but his defense looks a lot more disciplined now. He held his own against the Blazers frontline with size and managed to hit a 3 from the top of the key.
- Nice defense work by Larkin to help keep McCollum/Lillard in check.
- Al Horford still showing no aggression at all on the offensive end of the floor. He was seeking shots and wasn't even a distributor in first half, just an afterthought really.
- Greg Monroe made Zach Collins look silly on a couple of post moves, but he continues to turn the ball over in the post (via getting stripped) on multiple occasions. It's part of the package for him on offense but an area that needs to improve.
- Shane Larkin told reporters in Portland that he is no longer dealing with a minutes restriction starting with tonight's game. A sore knee has hampered the point guard for the past few weeks and caused him to miss several weeks back in February.
- Jaylen Brown is with the team in Portland but will miss his sixth straight game as he continues to recover from concussions symptoms. He is shooting to return to the floor during Sunday's game against the Kings.
- This is the second and final meeting of the year between the two teams. The Celtics won the first meeting between the squads in Boston back on February 4th after a game-winning buzzer beater by Al Horford.
- The Blazers have been the hottest team in the league since the All-Star Break, having won 13 consecutive games before losing to the Rockets at home on Tuesday night. That run has turned them into a borderline playoff team to the frontrunners for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference with just 10 games remaining.