The Celtics' Jordan Walsh is fouled by the Trail Blazers' Robert Williams III in the second quarter.
The Celtics' Jordan Walsh is fouled by the Trail Blazers' Robert Williams III in the second quarter.Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
On Monday night, Trail Blazers guard Jrue Holiday returned to TD Garden for the first time since the Celtics traded him last summer. He caught up with teammates in the bowels of the arena before the game and received a standing ovation during a first-quarter tribute video.
The other tribute occurred unintentionally, as the teams took the floor and scraped and clawed through a grimy and physical game that the defensive-minded Holiday might have appreciated.
In the end, despite their flaws and cold stretches, the Celtics simply had too much talent for the Blazers, and they secured a wire-to-wire 102-94 win that was not a work of art, but did not need to be.
Payton Pritchard had 23 points to lead Boston. He left the game with 2:40 left after appearing to jam a finger on his left hand while pursuing a rebound, but later returned. Jaylen Brown added 20 points and 8 rebounds for Boston, which committed 17 turnovers.
Jeremi Grant had 19 points to lead the Trail Blazers, who committed 18 turnovers and made just 10 of 40 3-pointers.
The Celtics led by as many as 23 points but were never able to put away the Blazers. A Robert Williams alley-oop at the start of the fourth brought Portland within 75-67.
Boston mostly kept Portland at a safe distance down for the rest of the quarter, but there were tense moments at the end. Grant scored as he was fouled with 1:12 left, missed the ensuing free throw, but converted the second chance to pull his team within 99-92. Then two Toumani Camara foul shots pulled Portland within 5, its smallest deficit since the opening quarter. But Derrick White kept the night from turning into a disaster by hitting a 3-pointer, and Boston held on.
The Blazers were without likely All-Star Deni Avdija, who was sidelined with a sore back. And at the start, they appeared to miss him. Over the first four minutes, Portland missed all eight of its shots, turned the ball over twice, and did not score.
The Celtics weren’t much sharper, but midway through the quarter they received a boost from their two rookies.
Hugo Gonzalez converted an acrobatic layup, then scuffled for possession and forced a jump ball. Afterward, Amari Williams rumbled down the lane for a dunk, blocked a Grant shot, and converted a layup as he was fouled.
Boston had success close to the rim in the opening quarter, making 10 of 11 2-pointers. Then ended it authoritatively from further away. After Pritchard missed a 3-pointer, Baylor Scheierman tracked down the rebound and found Pritchard well beyond the right arc. But the dwindling clock and long range tend to put Pritchard in his comfort zone. In this case, he swished the deep 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Boston a 32-11 lead.
In the first quarter the Blazers were just 4 for 21 from the field and 1 for 12 from the 3-point line, with four turnovers. The Celtics made 14 of 26 shots.
The massive lead created even better vibes for the tribute video shown for Jrue Holiday between quarters. The 90-second reel showed highlights from his two seasons in Boston, with an emphasis on his impact during the 2024 playoffs as well as his off-court charitable work. He received a standing ovation as he smiled and waved to the crowd afterward.
Maybe the moment energized Holiday, because he returned to the court and had his finest stretch.
He converted a floater and a 3-pointer before finding Williams for an alley-oop. Then he displayed the primary skill that turned him into a star, as he stripped the ball from Derrick White before hitting another 3-pointer soon after.
This stretch coincided with an offensive lull by the Celtics. Boston started the second quarter 1 for 9 from the field and mustered just 2 points over the first five minutes.
Boston’s offense searched for rhythm, but its three illegal screens in the quarter were disruptive. Even simple moments had complications. Pritchard, an 87 percent free throw shooter, stepped to the line and missed two in a row.
But the Blazers capitalized only moderately on Boston’s sluggish stretch, and Pritchard gave his team a 52-37 lead when he converted another buzzer-beater by rolling in a baseline jumper with a favorable bounce. Portland shot 28.2 percent from the field in the half.
A Pritchard 3-pointer with 7:08 left pushed the lead back to 64-45, but the Blazers lingered by getting into the free throw penalty quickly. Portland attempted 13 foul shots in the period and pulled within 67-58 on a Shaedon Sharpe layup with 3:22 left.
Williams, who had good moments in the first half, looked like a two-way contract rookie in the second. He committed bad fouls, missed layups, and struggled to maintain the spacing the Celtics need to thrive.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.