----- Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 61 points as the Boston Celtics topped the Portland Trail Blazers 126-112 Friday night at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
Trail Blazers playoff hopes officially on life support.
The Portland Trail Blazers are reeling at the wrong time of the season. Jayson Tatum finished with 34 points and 12 rebounds and Jaylen Brown added 27 points and five assists as the Boston Celtics handed the Portland Trail Blazers their fifth-straight loss 126-112 Friday night at Moda Center.
Portland (31-39) has lost five-straight games and is just 3-9 post All-Star break. With the loss, the Blazers are now three-games behind both the Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Lakers for the final play-in tournament spot with 12-games left in the regular season.
Boston (49-22) took control of the game early leading 32-24 at the end of the first quarter. They pushed their lead to 15 at halftime.
The Celtics put the game away in the third quarter pushing their lead to as many as 21 points. The Blazers cut the deficit to single-digits at 111-103 late in the fourth quarter on a Damian Lillard three-pointer but never really mounted a serious threat.
Lillard scored a game-high 41 points and Anfernee Simons added 17 points and four assists.
The Celtics defense forced 19 Blazers' turnovers leading to 28 points and held a 52-37 edge in rebounding. Boston controlled the paint 50-38 and had a 14-4 edge in second chance points.
Up Next- The Trail Blazers host the Los Angeles Clippers Sunday evening at Moda Center. The game is scheduled to tip off at 6:00 PM.
Chad's Take- Lottery position only thing that matters for the Trail Blazers at this point.