The Portland Trail Blazers were taken to basketball school Sunday afternoon at the Moda Center.
The defending champion Boston Celtics, missing three starters, didn’t skip a beat during a 129-116 win at the Moda Center in which they had the Blazers looking lost on defense trying to keep up with an array of shooters and scorers.
For the most part, the Blazers played well. But they walked away with lessons they hope can help the team continue to develop.
“When you play against elite teams, and teams that have won a championship, there’s so many things you can learn,' Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. “If you’re paying attention.”
The Blazers shot 48.9% from the field and committed just 12 turnovers. Usually, such numbers lead to a victory, or maybe a close loss. Rarely a 13-point defeat.
“I was very happy with how we played in this game today,” Billups said.
But the Celtics were too poised, experienced, and deliberate in executing their game plan through the day.
The difference in experience level was apparent, especially considering that the Celtics played without Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis.
“Just the way that they execute, the way that they’re patient, the way that they try to get exactly what they want every time,” Billups said.
Celtics Trail Blazers Basketball
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups calls out to players during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics, Sunday, March 23, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman) APAP
For Blazes forward Toumani Camara, little things set the two teams apart.
“I think we didn’t really do a great job on sticking to the game plan today,” Camara said. “We had some things set up for how many threes they shoot a game. I feel like we still found a way to play good and maintain the game throughout the whole time, but it kind of caught up to us a little bit toward the end.”
The Celtics lead the NBA with 48.2 three-point attempts per game. They went 23 of 50 (46%) against the Blazers, often generating wide-open looks.
Camara said the Blazers (32-40) failed to adequately defend Boston when they set screens and then popped shooters out for threes.
“I feel like our communication was not the best,” Camara said. “I feel like, me included, guards didn’t really do a good job on switching in those situations, and kind of be more solid defensively. I feel like we went a lot for pump fakes, also. Small things like that we usually don’t do.”
The Celtics shooting a lot of threes was a given. But it was the quality of shots that hurt the Blazers. Sam Hauser, for example, went 8 of 10 from long distance for 24 points with many of his shots uncontested.
“You want them to take the shots that we want them to take,” Camara said. “Not really open threes and uncontested threes and a lot of drive to the paint and then easy catch-and-shoot.”
Boston (52-19) limits such mistakes through top-tier communication.
“As a team, defensively, they’re always in the right position,” Billups said. “You can hear them talking out there. I can hear them talking out there. You can learn that from them.”
All-Star Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 30 points, nine assists and nine rebounds. Billups said his players can learn from Tatum’s ability to fight for position to get the ball where he wants it.
Boston Celtics v Portland Trail Blazers
Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics dribbles the ball to the basket against Deni Avdija #8 of the Portland Trail Blazers during the third quarter at the Moda Center on March 23, 2025 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Rio Giancarlo/Getty Images)Getty Images
“A lot of these offensive guys, they’re so physical,” Billups said. “I mean, they will kick your behind to do whatever they have to do to catch it where they want to catch it. And those are things that I want our team and our guys to know. You don’t just let people not let you catch it where you want. You’ve got to fight for that.”
Camara said the Blazers bring effort each night but are still learning how to match a team like the Celtics in other areas.
“I feel like every time we step on the court, our effort is almost unmatchable,” Camara said. “We’ve just got to be more patient sometimes. Read the game better and see what’s hurting us throughout the game and make adjustments throughout the game, also.”
The time to learn is now. The loss snapped the Blazers' four-game winning streak. They lost a half-game in the race for 10th in the Western Conference. Cleveland (57-14) is up next Tuesday night.
“We’ve just got to keep maturing and take this loss and see what we can do better and keep moving on,” Camara said.
-- Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook)