BSJ Game Report: Celtics 145, Blazers 117 - C's throttle Portland in most dominant win of the season

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics' 145-117 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, with BSJ insight and analysis:

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics came out of the gates SCORCHING hot, building an early 21-point lead. They fouled too much and gave up a typical end-of-quarter run to cut the lead to 15, but it seemed like they were in control. However, Ime Udoka went deep into his bench for some unconventional lineups that backfired and allowed the Blazers to get back within 2. After some back-and-forth in the early third, Jayson Tatum took over again and the C’s were back in control. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

C’s break out of shooting slump: The Blazers are notorious slump-busters, and the Celtics gladly took the holiday gift to shoot 56.3%. 

Celtics open and close well: The second quarter was rough, but the Celtics fought back at the end to minimize the damage. The big thing is that they came out strong enough to withstand the other team’s run, and then they responded with a big second half where they outscored Portland 81-59.

TURNING POINT

The Blazers cut the lead to 82-75 at the 7:08 mark of the third quarter, but Boston, behind Dennis Schröder and Tatum, outscored Portland 21-9 the rest of the way to put this game out of reach. 

SECOND GUESS

Ime Udoka was clearly trying to steal some minutes for his big-minute guys with some deep bench lineups in the second quarter, but that was nearly a disaster as the lead was cut down to two. To be fair, the guys who were on the floor very much relaxed, which made things worse. 

SIX UP

Jayson Tatum: This was high-level basketball from Tatum, whose four assists won’t get the full credit they deserve because there were two or three passes that amounted to nothing that were unreal looks. He was 4-6 on 3-pointers and 9-17 overall. There's something about these west-coast trips that Tatum just loves. 

Dennis Schröder: There was no greater recipient of the “sure, shoot whatever shot you want” defense of the Blazers than Schröder. He finished with 31 points, just like Tatum, and shot 10-16 (5-7 from 3). He also had 8 assists and just 1 turnover for maybe his best performance of the year.

Grant Williams: His offensive game is showing some polish. He pulled out a floater in this game. A FLOATER!

Enes K. Freedom: He loves playing in Portland. He finished with 15 rebounds and even a couple of blocks while also setting some really good picks to help spring guys against a bad pick-and-roll defense. 

Aaron Nesmith: He was 3-4 on 3-pointers, which was so badly needed. He also did little things on defense and with his passing (3 assists) while playing mostly under control and at a more comfortable speed. 

Payton Pritchard: He exploded for a 16-point 4th quarter in front of his hometown friends and family. It was really nice to see him get this opportunity at home. His explosion was so sudden that the Celtics bench broke into hysterics that earned them a technical foul. 

TWO DOWN

Robert Williams: He made a couple of nice plays but also some uncharacteristic mistakes. This really was his second straight off game. He fouled a lot and had some undisciplined plays that cost the Celtics points, including one that caused an angry timeout by Ime Udoka. 

Juancho Hernangomez: The Celtics won by 28 and he was a -15. 

TOP PLAYS:

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

It’s about time the Celtics are giving their bench guys some garbage-time minutes. 

The Celtics have blown a lot of leads this season, and it’s done more harm to the team than just a couple of bad losses or hits to their defensive ratings. 

With Aaron Nesmith and Payton Pritchard struggling throughout much of the early season, the lack of mettle to finish out games (and some poor strategic decisions by the coach) have cost the Celtics some prime development opportunities. 

“Those are all opportunities for young guys who need to grow and get real live game action,” Udoka said after the game. “That's invaluable. As much as you workout or practice, or play five-on-five, it’s nothing like real live game action.”

Pritchard put up 16 points in the fourth quarter, catching a heater in front of the home crowd that we haven't seen since summer league. 

"I think, for me, I go out there and take every opportunity that I can get because it's a real game,” he said. “Every time I step on that floor, I take advantage of it and try to go out there and give it a 100%."

The Celtics' past propensity for relaxing late and letting teams stay alive have cost them chances to get, and keep, guys like Pritchard and Nesmith confident and in rhythm. They are caught up in a numbers crunch right now, making playing time scarce, so any chance they can get for real game minutes means something. 

I’ve been begging for them to get G League minutes in an effort to get those reps because the opportunities for them haven't materialized in Boston. However, if the C’s can get into the habit of handling their business in games like this, that might not be necessary. 

“The games that we had big leads and let those slip away, it’s lost moments for those young guys,” Udoka said. “So I’m happy that they really got the lead going in the third quarter, toward the end of the third. We left them in the fourth and they continued to capitalize on that. ... Any chance they get on the court, I think those minutes are invaluable for their growth and progression.”

The next time the Celtics find themselves in an early fourth-quarter situation with a lead that can go one of two ways, it’s especially important for the team to find that gear to push the lead higher. I know that won’t always happen because other teams have a say in the matter, but the Celtics owe it to their younger guys to give them this opportunity. 

Considering how often they're hit by injuries, finding these chances for Nesmith and Pritchard can only help. I won’t be surprised to see either get some run in Los Angeles. And if this game settled them down enough to feel more confident in those situations, then the Celtics will have organically found some of the help they’ve needed all season long.