The Celtics continue their road trip with a stop in Portland to take on the Trail Blazers. This is the first of 2 meetings between these two teams this season. They will meet a second time in Boston on April 7. The Celtics won the series 2-0 last season. They are 73-49 all time overall and they are 34-27 in games played in Portland.
The Celtics are 1st in the East. They are 8 games ahead of 2nd place Milwaukee, 8.5 games ahead of 3rd place Cleveland, 12.5 games ahead of 4th place New York, 13 games ahead of 5th place Orlando and 13.5 ahead of 6th place Philadelphia. They are 20-11 on the road and 8-2 in their last 10 games. They are 16-7 against Western Conference teams and are coming off a win in their last game.
The Trail Blazers are 14th in the West, 4.5 games ahead of last place San Antonio. They are 3 games behind 13th place Memphis, 9.5 games behind 12th place Utah and 15 games behind the final play in spot. They are 10-22 at home and 3-7 in their last 10 games. They are 10-10 against Eastern Conference teams and are coming off a win in their last game.
The Celtics started their current road trip off with 2 straight losses against Cleveland and Denver. They then won the 3rd game in Phoenix. After this game they will finish the road trip in Utah. They will return home to face the Suns before a game in Washington. They then have home games against Detroit and Milwaukee before a 6 game road trip through Detroit, Chicago, 2 games in Atlanta, New Orleans and Charlotte.
The Trail Blazers are playing in the 4th game of a 6 game home stand. They are 2-1 so far, having lost to Oklahoma City and Houston and then they beat Toronto on Saturday. They will host Altlanta and New York to finish off their home stand. They will then play at New Orleans and Chicago before facing the Clippers at home twice and then Denver, followed by a 7 game road trip ending in Boston.
The Celtics’ entire starting lineup was originally listed on the injury report. As of now, Jrue Holiday is out with left knee tendinopathy, Svi Mykhailiuk is out for personal reasons, and Kristaps Porzingis is out with a hamstring injury. Brown, Tatum and White are all available. Al Horford will likely start at center and I’m going to guess that Sam Hauser gets the start at small forward.
The Trail Blazers have Shaedon Sharp (abdomen), Jabari Walker (hip), Malcolm Brogdon (elbow) and Robert Williams III (knee) out for this contest. Scoot Henderson returned from and 8 game absence due to an adductor injury on Saturday. He came off the bench in that game and may return to the starting lineup or may continue off the bench in this one. Deandre Ayton returned from a hand injury on Saturday and finished with 30 points and 19 rebounds and should remain in the starting lineup for this game. Jerami Grant missed the last 2 games with a hamstring injury and is questionable for this game.
Probable Celtics Starters
Celtics Reserves
Oshae Brissett
Luke Kornet
Payton Pritchard
Jordan Walsh
Xavier Tillman
Jaden Springer
2 Way Players
JD Davison
Neemias Queta
Drew Peterson
Injuries/Out
Jrue Holiday (knee) questionable
Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring) out
Svi Mykhailiuk (personal) out
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
Probable Trail Blazers Starters
Trail Blazers Reserves
Moses Brown
Duop Reath
Rayan Rupert
Matisse Thybulle
Scoot Henderson
Two-Way Players
Ibou Badji
Ashton Hagans
Justin Minaya
Injuries/Out
Malcolm Brogdon (elbow) out
Shaedon Sharpe (abdomen) out
Jabari Walker (hip) out
Robert Williams III (knee) out
Jerami Grant (hamstring) questionable
Head Coach
Chauncey Billups
Key Matchups
Jrue Holiday vs Anfernee Simons
Simons is averaging 22.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. He is shooting 43.1% from the field and 38.9% from beyond the arc. He is their most consistent player and slowing him down will go a long way toward getting a win. As I stated above, Holiday may or may not play but I’m not sure who would start here if he sits.
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Al Horford
Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images
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Deandre Ayton
Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images
Al Horford vs Deandre Ayton
Ayton is averaging 14.7 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He is shooting 56.9% from the field and does not shoot 3 pointers. He returned Saturday after missing time with a hand injury and finished with 30 points and 19 rebounds. The Celtics need to keep him out of the paint and off the boards.
Honorable Mention
Jaylen Brown vs Delano Banton
Banton will be facing his former team for the first time since being traded. He is averaging 6.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game on the year. In his last game, he finished with 25 points (9-16, 5-8), 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 block. Scoot Henderson returned in that game from an 8 game absence and came off the bench. He may return to the starting lineup in this game with Banton returning to the bench.
Keys to the Game
Defense – I know I say it every game, but defense is the key to winning every game. The Blazers average 108.1 points and the Celtics average 120.7 points per game. The Celtics are 2nd in the league with a defensive rating of 110.3 while the Blazers are 21st with a defensive rating of 116.7. The Celtics need to keep making tough defense their priority and identity. They must make defense their identity consistently in every minute of every game, especially as they get closer to the playoffs.
Rebound – The Celtics are 1st with 47.2 rebounds per game while the Trail Blazers are 24th with 42 rebounds per game. The Celtics must make an extra effort to grab rebounds in order to give themselves extra possessions as well as to keep the Blazers from scoring second chance points. The Celtics must be the team that works harder on the boards if they want to win this one. Much of rebounding is effort and desire and the Celtics need both to get a win in this game.
Be Aggressive – The Celtics have to be the team that works harder and wants the win more. They have to dive for loose balls, go for every rebound and just hustle on every play on both ends of the court. They have to be aggressive in getting to the basket as well and not settle for outside shots, especially if they aren’t falling. The Celtics have lost games they should have won by not playing as hard as their opponents. They can’t let the Blazers be the team that works harder if they want to win this game.
Don’t Get Complacent – They are first in the league, 8 games ahead of the 2nd place Bucks. They are playing a bad Trail Blazers team with several players out. The Celtics need to come out ready to play their best and not play down to a short handed Blazers team thinking they can coast to a win without giving a strong team effort. If one or more of the Celtics starters sit, then the reserves who replace them need to up their game to make up for playing short handed.
X-Factors
On the Road – The Celtics are on the road and have to deal with travel, a hostile crowd, and an unfamiliar court along with a time change. They have to block out all the distractions that playing on the road brings and concentrate on playing Celtics basketball. The Moda Center has a great atmosphere for the home team and the Celtics will need to work hard to beat them there. With travel and jet lag, fatigue may become a factor in this one.
Injuries – Both teams are dealing with players out for one reason or another. The Celtics should be able to win with Holiday and Porzingis out, but the rest of the team needs to pick up their game to fill in for the injured players. Also, if some of the Blazers can return then it would give them a boost. Depth will come into play for both teams.
Officiating – I know that I say this every game, but the officiating really is always an x-factor in every game. Every crew calls the game differently whether they call every little ticky tack foul or they let a lot of contact go and let the teams play. Some refs favor the home team and some not so much. The Celtics have got to adjust to the way the game is being called and not let themselves get frustrated by the officiating.
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