Boston Celtics Hardwood News: Celtics Blaze Past Blazers in Portland
Behind Isaiah Thomas, the Boston Celtics bounced back from a loss to Sacramento to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers Thursday night.
Don’t call it a comeback, call it a takeover. The Boston Celtics started the second game of their four-game road trip a bit sluggish, but erased a 17-point deficit to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 120-111 at Moda Center.
The Celtics did it without Jae Crowder (who missed the game due to family issues) and of course Avery Bradley. But, as has been the case with the absence of Bradley, other players stepped up in the effort namely Marcus Smart and rookie Jaylen Brown.
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Smart started in place of Crowder scoring 18 points and producing five steals. Brown added 14 points and seven rounds to compliment the 34 points triggered by All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas. Unsurprisingly, 15 of those 34 points came in the fourth quarter during Boston’s comeback.
Thomas, who struggled early, said he basically had to shot his way out of a cold streak.
"“I was missing a lot of easy shots all night long,” Thomas told reporters following the game via Boston.com. “It was a tough night for me offensively. But I just stay the course. The guys keep saying ‘keep shooting, just get open.’ I just try to make those shots.”"
The Celtics are not 34-19 on the same and evened their record on this current road trip.
Notes & quotes
Jae Crowder: As mentioned above, the Celtics were shorthanded heading into the game with Portland. Head coach Brad Stevens announced before the game that Jae Crowder was not with the team because of family health concerns in Dallas.
While those health concerns were not specified, Stevens said it is up in the air at this point whether Crowder will rejoin the team in Utah. Crowder only scored four points in the team’s loss to Sacramento missing every shot he took. One has to wonder if he had concerns about his family weighing on his mind.
Brad Stevens on the play of Marcus Smart via the Boston Herald:
"“He was terrific. I just talked (to the team) about his toughness with rebounding. He guarded Aminu and (Maurice) Harkless a lot, so he’s guarding bigger guys. But everybody is going to have to help us win a game, and tonight a lot of guys did, but tonight Marcus was good – really good.”"
Jaylen Brown on victory in Portland via Celtics.com:
"“It was a good win. It was a good bounce-back. We didn’t play as good as we wanted to play against Sacramento, so tonight we wanted to get out and try to play the game the right way.”"
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The Boston Celtics will next travel to Utah to take on the Jazz Saturday night.