BSJ Game Report: Celtics 126, Blazers 112 - Better all-around effort to hold off late Dame Time push

Everything you need to know about the Celtics win over the Portland Trail Blazers, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics opened up shooting 4-15 from deep but Jayson Tatum carried the offense with 15 first-quarter points. The pace got a little frantic in the second quarter but the Celtics did a good job of getting back under control, moving the ball, and growing their lead. They overcame some early issues to push the lead past 20, but Damian Lillard tried his best to keep things close. He did just that at the end of the fourth quarter, scoring 20 points in a little more than five minutes to make things interesting, but the Celtics kept their heads and held on. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

Not your usual fourth-quarter lost lead: We have to make sure not to lump this game into the last few lost Celtics fourth-quarter leads. This was the inevitable Damian Lillard explosion that teams have to endure. The Celtics were up 19 and cruising with 6:48 to go and then it turned into Dame Time. Could Boston have done a little better getting the ball out of his hands? Sure. But he’s done this so often that I can’t get too down on them for this. This explosion was happening no matter what, and credit to the Celtics for holding it off. 

The ball was moving: They had 29 assists on the night. They are now 20-2 when they have 29 or more assists. They had their moments, but I thought the ball moved well for most of the night. It was an encouraging sign that they might, possibly, be getting it. 

The Jays ride again!: 61 points, 18 rebounds, 9 assists for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Nice to see big nights from them together. They did have 9 combined turnovers … so … there's always something to complain about.

TURNING POINT

Marcus Smart found Derrick White under the basket with 2:47 left and White got fouled. His two free throws halted a 10-2 Damian Lillard run … which we could say extended to 12-4 after White and Dame traded free throws. But then Smart ripped Lillard and got it up for a Brown dunk.

 Al Horford iced it with a 3-pointer with 1:33 left.

SEVEN UP

Jayson Tatum: 34 points and 12 rebounds is his 29th double-double of the season. I thought he did a good job early of getting off the ball and attacking off the catch. This wasn’t a perfect Tatum game by any stretch, but this is so much closer to the ideal Tatum performance than any other game since the break. 

Jaylen Brown: He didn’t start out great, but 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists is a good night. 

Al Horford: 12 points and 10 assists for Horford, who also hit the dagger 3 to ice this game. The 10 assists are by far a season high for Horford. It’s the seventh time he’s had 10 or more dimes in a Celtics uniform, and ninth time overall. His career-high is 11. 

Luke Kornet: He had a stretch early in the game where he was finding himself wide open for easy buckets. He finished with 11 points and 5 rebounds.

Blake Griffin: He was doing the dirty work on the boards early, grabbing 9 rebounds … 6 of which were offensive rebounds. 

Derrick White: He got to the line 8 times. Tonight was the 19th time in his career he’s gotten to the line 8 times or more, fourth time as a Celtic. His career best is 11.

Marcus Smart: 15 points and 6 assists, and he was 3-6 on 3-point attempts. He also made some very good plays late, including the game-saving steal. It’s nice to see Smart be himself again. 

NONE DOWN

I’m not going to nitpick anyone tonight. I will say broadly that 18 turnovers for 19 Blazers points isn’t great, but other than that I thought this was a pretty well-played game. 

TOP PLAYS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET

- Winning in the margins works

The Celtics had a better free throw rate, turnover percentage, and offensive rebounding percentage (by a mile 40.8% to 22.2%). They would have had a better shooting night, too, but Lillard blew that number out of the water. 

The Celtics got out-shot percentage-wise, but they put up 8 more shots and 4 more 3-pointers. 

“I just felt like we had that competitive nature,” Joe Mazzulla said. “I felt like we had that identity. I felt like we had kind of that pop to us. And so it's important that we keep that edge, that identity.”

The shots didn’t fall all night, and Lillard had his expected late push, but the Celtics did enough of the little things to get the job done. 

Next up: The Celtics are back at it tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. in Utah.