Final: Portland Trail Blazers 109, Boston Celtics 105 - Celtics fall into massive drought, drop another killer loss

GAME 47
Boston Celtics (23-23, 15-9 home, 9th East) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (18-26, 4-15 road, 10th West)
TD Garden
7:30 PM - NBC Sports Boston 

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

Boston: Dennis Schroder, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Robert Williams, Al Horford

Portland: CJ McCollum, Anfernee Simons, Nassir Little, Robert Covington, Jusuf Nurkic

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

- Marcus Smart still needs time after his COVID absence and will miss the game.

“Just needs a little more time,” Ime Udoka said before the game. “Ramped it up but sitting out those days, has some general soreness and then he took the knee right before he went out with COVID and so, still working through that, although that's almost gone. It's just more sessions needed. Hopefully, one more and we'll have him next game.”

- Aaron Nesmith is out with a right ankle sprain.

“He just went out, 30 minutes ago, went pretty hard, 80-plus percent,” Udoka said. “He did a lot of cutting and didn’t feel comfortable with it. So he’s out.”

- Dennis Smith Jr. (right ankle; sprain) is probable for Portland. Nassir Little (right knee; acute patellar tendinopathy/contusion) is questionable.

- Norman Powell (personal reasons), Damian Lillard (core muscle recovery), Larry Nance Jr. (right knee inflammation) and Cody Zeller (right patellar fracture) are out.

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1. Attack the middle: The Celtics run against horrible defenses continues. Let’s see if they can focus on attacking a porous pick-and-roll coverage and put Nurkic in tough defensive situations. Robert Williams should put a TON of pressure on the rim, so the Celtics don’t have to settle for the first 3-pointer they get. There will be opportunities to drive and kick, so they should drive first then look for shots. The Blazers give up the highest field goal and 3-point percentage in the league because of this. 

2. Fast start: I should just put that one in the template for these posts. The Celtics can get any shot they want against the Blazers, so put in the work early, get a bunch of easy ones, head into the second quarter with a 15 point lead, and then challenge the Blazers to get stops. The Celtics absolutely rolled the Blazers in Portland. Let’s see that again and get some extended garbage time. 

3. Protect the ball: Another staple. I hate resorting to these but that's where this team is. The Celtics are sloppy at their worst, and early turnovers beget bad decisions in an effort to make up for the mistakes. The Celtics are a reactive team, often trying to answer what the other team is doing or having their play impacted by other forces on the court. They are not a proactive team that imposes their will on teams. Whenever things click for them, it’ll be at least partly because they’ve swung this mentality. In the meantime, they need to protect the ball and avoid putting themselves in a position to react to runs. 

GAME THREAD

Stick around for more comments below as the game goes on. Feel free to add your two cents in the comments.