Live Coverage: Blazers 100, Celtics 94 -- C's go 1-4 on road trip

The Celtics rallied from a 21-point second half deficit in the finale of their five-game road trip but a pair of huge 3-pointers from Al-Farooq Aminu down the stretch helped the Blazers hold off the visitors for 100-94 victory. Jayson Tatum tied his regular season career-high with 27 points in the setback while Kyrie Irving added 21 points but it wasn't enough against a Blazers team that dominated the glass (15 offensive rebounds) and got some timely 3-point makes (14-of-36 from deep) during crunch time.

The loss drops the C's to 7-6 on the season and leaves a sour taste at the conclusion of a 1-4 road trip for Brad Stevens and company. Jusuf Nurkic (19 points, 15 rebounds) and Damian Lillard (18 points, 12 assists) led the Blazers to the win, as Portland improved to 10-3 with the victory. 

First Half Notes

• The Blazers have been one of the best two-way teams in the NBA this year and it showed throughout the first half of this one.


• Damian Lillard worked over Kyrie Irving and the C's pick-and-roll defense in the opening minutes and tail end of the second half, dishing out eight assists while setting up Nurkic for 14 points.


• Irving couldn't get through picks, the C's help defense was late and the Blazers kept making the extra pass when needed for open looks.


• Boston's offense started slow before making some headway later in the first quarter with some nice attacking by Tatum in mismatches with Nurkic. He posted a team-high 13 points in the first half with his usual diet of long twos, which he knocked down at a solid rate.


• Very little cohesion in the rest of the C's offense for the final nine minutes of the half though. Just six assists on 16 field goals in the entire opening 24 minutes, with far too many pullup long 2s.


• Al Horford (1-of-7) continues to look like he's taken a step back offensively during the start of this season. He's hesitant to shoot and is down below 30 percent from 3-point range.


• Blazers' bench outscored the C's reserves by a 23-11 margin, which set the stage for a 26-10 run to end the half for the hosts.


• Lots of great looks for the Blazers from downtown (8-of-18) while taking advantage of the offensive glass. C's doing nothing well on either end of the floor, setting the stage for 1-4 trip.

• The Celtics will be looking to salvage a second win in the finale of their five-game road trip. They will have Kyrie Irving back for this one after he returns to the team following attending his grandfather's memorial on Friday in Washington.


• Daniel Theis continues to inch closer to a return for the C's and was a surprise upgrade to probable after being sidelined a couple weeks back with a foot injury. He had previously said he was shooting to be active for Wednesday's game against the Bulls.


• The Blazers could prove to be the stiffest challenge of the trip for the C's, with a top-10 offense and defense on the year to date, producing tsecond-bestest record in the West (9-3). They rank in the top-10 on the offensive end in free throw rate, offensive rebound rate and fewest turnovers per game, making them an efficient well-oiled offense.


• The C's offense has shown considerable improvement on the west coast trip (10th in NBA in the month of November) but the regression on the defensive end has been real, putting them at 20th overall over that same stretch in defensive rating.