Celtics Destroy Trail Blazers, Extend Streak

The Boston Celtics cruised to a 113-96 win on Wednesday night over the Portland Trail Blazers

The Boston Celtics game on Wednesday night against the streaking Portland Trail Blazers looked like a fantastic match-up.

Head coaches Brad Stevens of the Celtics and Terry Stotts of the Trail Blazers were just named NBA coaches of the month for their respective conferences. The Celtics had won 11 in a row at home and the Blazers were riding a six game road winning streak. Both teams are also among the NBA’s highest scoring teams. Sometimes, however, one team clearly has the upper hand.

The Celtics previous two contests were against teams who play fantastic defense, so the Trail Blazers and their lack-luster defense were given a warm welcome to TD Garden.

Despite their defense, the Blazers had been one of the league’s hottest teams recently, winning 18 of their last 22 games. Their success was largely due to the scoring of point guard Damian Lillard. The Celtics have given Lillard trouble in the past, as he had only reached the 20 point mark once in six games coming into Wednesday night.

The game opened with the visiting Blazers showing off their offensive proficiency as Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum scored as advertised. The Celtics found themselves trailing by a substantial margin yet again, and leaned on a duo of their own to close the gap.

The Celtics were down 28-16 when Isaiah Thomas made one of his patented driving layups high off of the glass and drew a foul in the process. Forward Jae Crowder also started to heat up from the field. The Celtics two scoring leaders helped the home team end the quarter on a 14-5 run due to better rebounding and limiting the Blazers second chance points. The first quarter ended 33-30, in favor of Portland.

After the first quarter the Celtics and coach Brad Stevens knew they would have to post a large number on the scoreboard to pick up their 12th straight home victory. The second quarter began with Lillard on the bench, and the Celtics saw their chance to strike. Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley made back to back layups to start the quarter and take the lead, however, the Blazers bench was able to keep the score close with their leading scorer on the bench.

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As the clock winded down, the game began to open up and both teams started to get hot from three-point range. Avery Bradley continued his scoring, but Portland’s shooting guard, C.J. McCollum, answered with a pair of deep triples himself. The Celtics were not able to make their imprint on the game until Jared Sullinger threw down a thunderous dunk and ignited the TD Garden faithful. The Celtics went on to finish the quarter on an 11-3 run to lead 61-56 at the half.

The first half featured a fascinating battle between each teams top scorers. The Trailblazers guards, Lillard and McCollum, combined for 29 points, as did Celtics leading scorers Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder.

The Celtics have played their best basketball in the third quarter since the All Star break, a testament to the ability of coach Brad Stevens to make halftime adjustments. In Wednesday’s contest, Stevens clearly focused on the fact that his opponent was playing their fourth game in five nights. The Celtics used their fresh legs to dismantle the Portland attack in the third quarter.

Jared Sullinger led the Celtics early in the third quarter as the home team quickly extended the lead and never looked back. The Celtics looked outstanding both offensively and defensively in possibly one of their best 12 minute periods of the season. Boston dominated their opponent in every way, outscoring the Blazers 30-12 in the period and getting out to a 24 point lead.