Celtics Embarrass Trail Blazers

----- Jayson Tatum finished with 31 points and 10 rebounds and Dennis Schroder added 31 points and eight assists as the Boston Celtics knockout the Portland Trail Blazers 145-117 Saturday night at Moda Center.

Blazers hit a season-low in loss to the Celtics.

Jayson Tatum recorded a double-double with 31 points and 10 rebounds and Dennis Schroder finished with 31 points and eight assists as the Boston Celtics routed the Portland Trail Blazers 145-117 Saturday night at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.

Marcus Smart added 17 points and former Oregon star Payton Pritchard scored 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting from three-point range.

The Celtics connected on 56.3% of their field goals including a scorching 21-of-37 from beyond-the-arc.

The Blazers starters lacked energy and effort to start the game allowing the Celtics to get off to a great start. The defense struggled with rotations, communication, help defense, and the offense once again became stagnant lacking effective ball movement.

''I've never seen a team that needs its bench to inspire its starters,'' Portland coach Chauncey Billups said. ''It should be the other way around.''

Boston (13-11) erupted to a 38-23 in the first quarter, but Portland would respond with a 25-13 run to trim the deficit to two at 50-48. The Celtics responded with a 39-26 edge in the third quarter to put the game away.

CJ McCollum led Portland (11-13) with 24 points and Dennis Smith Jr. finished with 21 points and six assists.

The Blazers played without Damian Lillard (abdomen), Nassir Little (ankle), and Anfernee Simons (ankle).

The 145 points scored by Boston were the most points given up by Portland in a regulation game at home in franchise history.

Up Next- The Portland Trail Blazers host the Los Angeles Clippers Monday night at Moda Center. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7:00 PM.

Chad's Take- The Trail Blazers are a mess and desperately need leadership at the top. Question is, who is leading this franchise?


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content