Everything you need to know about the Celtics' 118-106 win over the Blazers with BSJ insight and analysis
HEADLINES
Jayson Tatum’s coming out party continues: Jayson Tatum scored 26 of his game-high 36 points in the second half, following up his career night in LA with a career-high eight 3-pointers to help the Celtics comfortably win with a 118-106 victory against an overmatched Blazers squad. With both teams without their All-Star point guards due to injuries, Tatum was easily the best player on the floor, knocking down 14-of-22 from the field and an absurd 8-of-12 from long distance, while adding five rebounds and two blocks in 34 minutes. Six players scored in double figures for Boston in all including 24 points from Jaylen Brown and 13 points from Brad Wanamaker off the bench in a nice redemption performance after a stinker in LA on Sunday. CJ McCollum had a game-high 28 points and 10 assists for the hosts but the Blazers had no answer for Tatum and the Celtics offense all night in the midst of a 48 percent shooting performance (19-of-39) from 3-point range.
Signs of life from the Celtics bench emerge: With a back-to-back game looming in Utah on Wednesday night, avoiding big minutes for the starting five was a priority in this one for Brad Stevens. Luckily for him, his reserves showed a lot more than they have in the past two games, combining for 24 points on an efficient 8-of-17 shooting night for the field. Wanamaker (13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) led the way on that front while Enes Kanter also chipped in with his first productive performance (4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists) since the All-Star Break. With Boston leading comfortably for nearly the entire second half, no starter played more than 34 minutes despite Kemba Walker (sore knee) being sidelined. Those limited minutes should come in handy as the C’s wrap up their road trip in Salt Lake City on Wednesday night.
TURNING POINT
The Celtics starting five broke things open midway through the third quarter with an 11-2 run that was led by Tatum (seven points). The outburst turned a five-point lead up to 14, putting the visitors’ lead at double digits with four minutes left in the quarter. Portland cut it to no closer than 10 the rest of the way.
TWO UP
Tatum: The All-Star was close to unstoppable in the second half, scoring 26 of his game-high 36 points on 10-of-15 shooting while knocking down a career-high eight 3-point makes. Over the past two games, he’s shooting an absurd 12-of-19 from 3-point range.
Brown: The swingman carried the Celtics offense in the midst of a sluggish first half start, scoring 10 straight points in the second quarter on his way to 24 points. He was also 3-of-7 from 3-point range and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line.
TWO DOWN
Marcus Smart: The starting guard knocked down 4-of-9 from beyond the arc but could not find his shooting touch closer to the basket, going an ugly 0-of-7 from the field from 2-point range. His shot total was a little high (16) for the night considering he doubled up both Hayward and Theis in field goal attempts while missing seven straight shots at one point of the game.
3-point defense: The Celtics were very sloppy with their defense out of the gate in this one and allowed the Blazers to knock down 41.9 percent of their 3s on the night with plenty of open looks. Portland’s lackluster defense ensured it didn’t matter much in the big picture but Boston’s defense was not as sharp as it could have been.
TOP PLAY
(Tatum) pic.twitter.com/cuCQMAJcgJ
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) February 26, 2020
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Tatum may be in the midst of the best all-around month by an Eastern Conference player this season: The 21-year-old has made it look easy throughout the month of February on his way to averaging 30.3 ppg over 10 contests, the third-best mark in the Eastern Conference. His shooting efficiency has actually been more impressive than his volume over that stretch as he’s knocked down 50 percent of his shot attempts and 49.5 percent from 3-point range despite taking 9.1 shots from downtown each game. Given that the only players with higher scoring averages than him in the East (for February) are guys that aren’t interesting in playing much defense (Bradley Beal, Trae Young) and it’s evident that Tatum is a clear runaway candidate for East player of the month when you factor in his all-around contributions (7.2 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.2 spg, 1.3 reg). Tatum has been a top-10 player in the NBA for the past month and that’s been essential in leading the shorthanded Celtics to a 8-2 record despite a tough schedule.
Damian Lillard deserves more credit for keeping this awful Blazers roster in playoff contention this season: The All-Star sat out Tuesday’s game with a groin injury but outside of the reliable scoring production from CJ McCollum, there might not be a player on this entire Portland roster that is an above-average contributor on both ends of the floor at this point of their career. The Blazers' defense is horrific despite the big numbers Hassan Whiteside puts up and the Celtics got pretty much any look they wanted in the half court for the majority of the night. Lillard (averaging a career-high 29 ppg) has willed this team to several wins with his stellar shooting but there is no chance this group beats out a crowded race for the No. 8 spot in the East unless Lillard goes nuts in the final two months. He’s probably worthy of some third-place MVP votes for even dragging this team close to the .500 mark. Otherwise, it’s one of the worst healthy rosters in the NBA.
