The Celtics had won 6 of their last 8 games against Western Conference opponents. The Trail Blazers had beaten the Celtics 6 of their last 8 match-ups. Something was bound to give tonight; but despite trailing by 17 points at one point, the C’s managed to improve their record to 9-3 while playing on the 2nd night of back-to-backs this season.
THE GAME FLOW
The Celtics offense continued to struggle to begin the night, but without 2 of their best shooters from downtown (Crowder was a late scratch for personal reasons), this slow start wasn’t exactly unexpected. The absence of Bradley and Crowder resulted in more burn for the youngsters and perhaps the earliest James Young sighting in his Celtics career. While I’d love to say this was a good thing, Young clanked his only attempt from downtown and committed a couple of soft fouls that allowed the Trail Blazers to build a lead. Jaylen Brown started in Crowder’s place tonight and was tasked with defending CJ McCollum. Brown couldn’t keep up with him, and the Celts had allowed Portland’s backcourt to score 16 points in the first quarter alone.
The 2nd quarter consisted of a lot of push and pull between the two teams. The Celts had found themselves in a 10 point deficit to begin the quarter, but began a run with a lineup of Jerebko, Olynyk, Thomas, Green, and Rozier. Frequent (and RANDOM) Celtics killer Al-Farouq Aminu had his way under the rim, though, and once again powered his team to an 8-0 run that gave way to a healthy lead for the Trail Blazers (Aminu finished with 13 pts in the half off of the bench). The quarter ended with a 15-2 run from the C’s, highlighted by Rozier’s hustle on an offensive rebound that led to a straight away 3 for IT before half. Despite shooting just 26.7% from deep, the Celt’s now found themselves down only 6 points heading into the locker room, 55-49.
The third quarter saw contributions from just about everybody. As CJ McCollum and Al-Farouq Aminu continued to have their way against the Celts defense, the Celtics had fed off of the energy of Marcus Smart (who had played the full quarter), while unsung heroes such as Kelly Olynyk and Terry Rozier managed to drain a couple 3’s. By the time the quarter was over, the C’s had regained the lead from the Trail Blazers and went into the 4th up one point, 77-76.
The Celtics have the highest scoring 4th quarter team in the League (many thanks, Isaiah) averaging 28.8 pts in the final frame coming into the game. The team only built upon that tonight as they finished strong once again with an astonishing 43 points in the 4th. The game had remained close, for the most part, until a missed corner 3 from Rozier ended with an emphatic tip-slam from Gerald Green to put the C’s 94-91 with about 7 minutes left. From there, Marcus Smart and Isaiah Thomas took control of the game and confirmed the Celtics victory. Final Score: 120-111
This is an easy one: THE FACT THAT BENCH PLAYER AL-FAROUQ AMINU ATE THE CELTICS LUNCH. He ended with 26pts (a season high) shooting 8-11 from the field, and 3-4 from downtown. It’s remarkable how the Celtics keep allowing role players to take over the game against them – clean it up, boys.
Marcus Smart did everything right tonight and finished with 18 points on an efficient 8-13 shooting from the field. From hustling on D, to taking charges, driving to the basket, or grabbing a well-timed rebound; Smart has continued to show growth and maturity as the year goes along. One can only hope that teams around the League are beginning to take notice of what a great asset Boston truly has in him.
This one doesn’t come in video form this time, just a reminder: IT scored 34 points tonight, including 14 in the final quarter, and that felt like a quiet game for him. The man is on a tear this season and anything less than a complete and utter takeover during the 4th feels like a let down from him. Appreciate this.
THE GRID
Marcus Smart – 18 points, 8-13 FG, 2-3 FT, 6 rebs, 5 assists, 5 steals
Isaiah Thomas – 34 points, 11-26 FG, 10-11 FT, 4 assistss
Al-Farouq Aminu – 26 points, 8-12 FG, 3-5 from 3, 7-9 FT, 5 rebs
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