The Boston Celtics looked every bit the defending champs as they defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 129-116 Sunday afternoon at the Moda Center.
Portland had a pretty decent game, shooting 40.4% from three, matching the Celtics rebound for rebound, and keeping turnovers to 12. Yet Boston looked for most of the game that they were on a different level. The Blazers kept the Celtics in touch for the majority of the game with their scrap and good shooting, but it always felt the Celtics were in control in spite of what the scoreboard said. In the end, Boston turned up the volume when they needed to and easily kept the Blazers at arm’s length in the fourth quarter.
Portland guard Shaedon Sharpe scored a team-high 23 points on 9-16 shooting, while forward Toumani Camara added 19 points and seven rebounds. Celtics star Jayson Tatum dropped 30, and sharpshooting role player Sam Hauser lit it up with 24 points, scored entirely off three-pointers.
Here are some of the factors that determined the outcome.
Three-Point Shooting: Part 1
You know that Boston is going to shoot a metric ton of shots from beyond the arc. So if you know they are going to attempt a ton of shots from deep, you get your best defenders to stay tight on their three-point shooters, right? Problem is, they are all three-point shooters. Nine Celtics took to the court, eight Celtics attempted a shot from deep and eight Celtics made at least one. The Blazers have the scaffolding for a very good defensive team, but they aren’t yet at a point where they can defend all five positions beyond the arc.
Three-Point Shooting: Part 2
The quality of the three-point shots Boston was getting was impressive. If Portland defended from too far away, bang. Open three-point shot. If Portland denied the arc, Boston penetrated. Sometimes they got a layup out of it, but more often than not they drew in the defense and kicked it out. Bang. Open three-point shot. Sometimes they just passed the ball around until a Blazer slipped or slacked. Bang. Open three-point shot. It was a fine demonstration of pretty basketball that takes advantage of the simple math that three is greater than two.
Three-Point Shooting: Part 3
Boston didn’t make all of their three-pointers, of course, but they supplemented their three-point tally with offensive boards. With the Blazers so spread out to defend the inevitable three, they were susceptible to the crashing offensive board. Boston had 11 offensive rebounds but honestly they probably should have had more.
Three-Point Shooting: Part 4
When your opponent is getting points served on a tray, the temptation is to fight fire with fire. The problem is that the quality of threes the Blazers were getting wasn’t as good as Boston’s. All things considered they did very well from deep, shooting 40.4%, but that seemed a bit of a mirage. The Blazers hit some three-pointers they shouldn’t have been taking. When it became clear that the Blazers were going to try to keep up with Boston’s deep shooting you could pretty much put a fork in this game.
Missed Opportunity?
The Blazers started the game aggressively penetrating. It didn’t always result in a bucket, but they did bait Payton Pritchard into three fouls in less than five minutes into the first quarter. While the Blazers didn’t completely stop driving, the frequency decreased as the outside shots increased. That meant fewer Boston fouls. By the start of the fourth quarter no Celtic was in any sort of foul trouble. In a game where you are the decided underdog, you need to find a wrinkle that levels the playing field. It seemed like the Blazers might have found that wrinkle... for about five minutes of the first quarter. Sharpe was especially frustrating in the number of times it looked like he might have an angle to drive but he launched a deep one instead.
Rough Afternoon For Clingan
Donovan Clingan has been ill, so let’s not bury the young guy. It would be analyst malpractice though to ignore how ineffective he was, and how that impacted the game. Four points and one measly rebound is a disaster for a starting center. He was constantly dragged out of the paint on the defensive end and was mostly a spectator on the offensive end. It’s certainly possible Clingan was a beat slow after his illness, but this game was a good illustration of the big concern about the big guy. When he is allowed to be an old-school rim protector, screen-setter, and post-up man he’s good and getting better. When he is dragged all over the court and teammates are taking quick threes he hasn’t really shown an ability to put his stamp on the game. Take this as a learning experience for Clingan and recognize that some areas of his game have a long way to go.
Boston On All Cylinders Is Really Good
Every time this season when I’ve turned on the Celtics I felt like they were coasting. Today they demonstrated that they are on a completely different plane than the Blazers. Honestly your first thought reading that should be, “no kidding, dummy.” It still needs to be written though. Recent wins are fun, valuable, encouraging, and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Today was a good reminder that the Blazers have a ways to go to seriously challenge a good team that is determined to play good basketball.
Up Next
Box Score
The long seven-game homestand ends on Tuesday with another top team from the East visiting the Moda Center. The Cleveland Cavaliers, smartly at the top of the Eastern Conference, will take on the Blazers on Tuesday at 7:00pm Pacific.