Final: Celtics 145, Blazers 117 - Tatum, Schröder pace offensive explosion in Portland

Game 24: Boston Celtics (12-11, T-8th East) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (11-12, T-9th West)
Moda Center
10:00 PM, NBC Sports Boston

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS: 

Boston: Dennis Schröder, Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum, Grant Williams, Robert Williams

Portland: CJ McCollum, Tony Snell, Norm Powell, Robert Covington, Jusuf Nurkic

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

- Jaylen Brown is out again, but he’s close to a return

“That's something we’re monitoring,” Ime Udoka said. “He felt tightness, really fought me hard to try to play, wanted to play. He was kind of going through it watching us battle Utah last night. Jaylen is a very competitive guy that's itching to play, get out there, but we want to take the big picture approach and get him back when he’s 100%, not 85-90 so it’s something that doesn’t linger.”

The Celtics are off Sunday and Monday so that will give Brown some more time to recover. 

- Al Horford is out with back tightness. 

“Probably think he could have played through, obviously the back-to-back, want to be careful there, then another back-to-back coming up on this road trip,” Udoka said, so it doesn’t sound serious. 

- Romeo Langford is also out after rolling his right ankle against Utah

“He rolled his ankle pretty bad,” Udoka said. “He tried to give it a go tonight but couldn't put a lot of pressure on it. We got days off coming up and a back-to-back so we will re-evaluate him then.”

- Damian Lillard (abdominal tendinopathy), Anfernee Simons (ankle), Nassir Little (ankle) are all out for Portland. 

- Portland is favored by 1

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1. The letdown: After a really tough, emotional game in Utah, the Celtics now face a decimated Portland team without its star on a back-to-back. This is prime letdown territory here. 

“It is what it is, it's the NBA,” Udoka said before the game. “Teams are going through the same thing with people missing in and out. ... We've preached that against Milwaukee earlier this year, didn't love how we came out with the attention to detail with Giannis being out. We're talking the same thing with Lillard being out. We're going through the same thing. We've won games with guys missing this year so far and can't have a letdown.”

2. Who guards Jayson Tatum?: Portland has few answers for Tatum, so if he’s aggressive, there's a strong chance he can get going early and get hot. Portland’s defense will give up good shooting nights, even to struggling teams, so this is a great chance for Tatum to go on the attack and get himself going.

3. Aaron Nesmith & Payton Pritchard opportunity: The C’s are shorthanded, so these guys will certainly get some chances. Can either or both settle into this game and show what they're made of? Will Pritchard be too amped in front of his family and friends, or will it inspire him? This could be a real chance to get into some kind of rhythm.