Portland Trail Blazers vs. Boston Celtics
The Blazers Are Coming!… But The Celtics Don’t Care
Wednesday, March 8th, 2023
Boston, MA —
FIRST HALF:
Portland’s starting lineup consisted of Lillard, Reddish, Thybulle, Grant, and NURKIC after the game-time decision.
Nurkic, making his return to the floor for the first time since February 1st, remained on a tight minutes restriction, and thank Billups he did because he was looking absolutely rusty. Eubanks relieved Nurkic in the first quarter which led to 3 offensive rebounds the Blazers desperately needed. Lillard was able to find his rhythm (19 PTS) while the rest of the team struggled to make shots.
Shaedon Sharpe had an impressive put-back over Derrick White that was ultimately deemed a foul, but his ability to leap over the moon continues to be one of the last things any Portland fan (or general basketball fan) would want to be taken from this world.
Jayson Tatum and Al Horford began producing on offense early. Jaylen Brown struggled to find his rhythm, but Sam Hauser was able to connect on 3 3PT which gave the Celtics a sizeable momentum shift. Chauncey Billups decided to play small during the second quarter, eventually having Dame, Grant, Thybulle, Watford, and Reddish on the floor; this terrible stretch of basketball ended up leading to a 15-point Boston advantage at the half, 60–45.
SECOND HALF:
Billups returned to the original starting lineup; it led to similar results with the Blazers struggling to find any offensive identity beyond Dame. Honestly, this was a tough game to watch. The third quarter ended with Boston up 94–72. Taytum continued to dominate, meeting little resistance from the Blazers’ defense. Nassir Little started to shoot more during this stretch but missed by a mile on a few occasions. In 20 minutes, Thybulle had just 2 points on 1–6 FG. Grant posted 13 points on 5–12 FG, going 3–7 from three.
In the end, Damian Lillard would finish 27–5–8, and Jerami Grant would have 13–6 during an overall abysmal team outing. Jayson Tatum posted 30–7–2 with Al Horford (17 points) and Derrick White (21 points) largely supporting the night. The final score would favor Boston, 115–93.
With Anfernee Simons and Justice Winslow still sidelined for Portland, Billups and the rest of the Blazers will need to find some confidence if they want to climb out from the bottom of the Western Conference standings*.
The Blazers will play in Philadelphia on Friday, 3/10, before closing their road trip in New Orleans on Sunday, 3/12.
Boston, snapping a 3-game losing streak and currently ranked 2nd in the East, will start their own road campaign on Saturday, 3/11, in Atlanta.
*Spurs and Rockets discluded
