Final: Blazers 97, Celtics 92 -- Offense stalls again as C's drop fourth straight

The effort was better on Wednesday night but the offense was simply not there for the Celtics as they dropped their fourth straight contest 97-92 in an ugly affair with the Blazers. The hosts were hopeless from 3-point range all night long (18 percent) for the second straight game and their turnovers (17) proved to be too much to overcome amid a far improved defensive effort.

Mental miscues also were prominent down the stretch, including a highly questionable 3-point attempt by Marcus Smart in a five-point game that squandered the C's last chance at making things interesting down the stretch after a late comeback.

Damian Lillard had a team-high 33 points for the Blazers while kyrie Irving chipped in with 31 points for the hosts in the defeat.


First Half Notes

• Very little offensive flow early after two early Kyrie takes


• Morris remains in a slump, missing what used to be automatic jumpers for him.


• Good defensive effort in the early going but Blazers are disciplined and find good shots


• Five points already on three Celtics turnovers in the opening five minutes for Boston. Not going to beat Blazers in this game unless they can keep pace offensively.


• C’s really are struggling from beyond the arc over the past two games, going 2-of-10 from deep during the first 18 minutes, and 20 percent from deep over the last game and a half.


• C’s shot selection continues to struggle a bit but there are also a lot of missed shots on account of tired legs.


• Horford and Theis doing a respectable job on Nurkic and Kanter early to keep them from being crushed on the glass with their size.


• The defensive effort on the whole has been far improved, keeping the C’s in the game amid their shooting woes.


• Just one free throw over the first 19 minutes of tonight’s game for the Celtics.


• Brad Stevens shrinking down the rotation to eight guys tonight with Terry Rozier. Leaning heavily on Tatum to soak up the extra minutes.

• The Celtics will play the second half of a back-to-back and try to snap a three-game losing streak since the All-Star Break in the friendly confines of the TD Garden. Doing so against a rested Blazers team that have won four straight games by double digits will not be easy.


• The biggest challenge tonight for Boston outside of containing the dynamic Portland backcourt will be keeping the Blazers' bigs off the glass. Jusuf Nurkic and new free agent addition Enes Kanter are two of the best offensive rebounders in the league and should have a significant size advantage over the likes of Horford, Theis and Robert Williams.


• With the Celtics dealing with significant defensive struggles for most of February (22nd overall in league) I would not be surprised to see Brad Stevens mix it up tonight and give Semi Ojeleye a chance at some rotation minutes to help in that department.


• Brad Wanamaker (illness) and Terry Rozier (sore knee) are both questionable for the contest. Aron Baynes went through a hard workout tonight and could return as soon as this weekend with a minutes limit, according to Brad Stevens.  Old friend Evan Turner will be out for the Blazers with a sore knee.