The Portland Trail Blazers faced the Boston Celtics with a number of injuries on both sides. Portland was still without Jerami Grant and Deandre Ayton, while and the Celtics were without the services of Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis.
However, Boston did not need three of their starters to earn the 128-118 win thanks to the…
Pritchard-and-White Barrage
The combo of Payton Pritchard and Derrick White combined for 84 points, including 19 makes from behind the arc between the two. Both had a career-high in the game, 43 for Pritchard and 41 for White, and the pair became the first teammates to each have at least nine three-pointers in the same game.
White had a personal 9-4 run while making a three-pointer on three straight possessions late in the first half to help Boston take an 11-point lead into halftime. Pritchard then had a 20-point third quarter to push the lead to 20 points at the end of the third quarter.
The overwhelming offense from the pair was too much for the Blazers to overcome despite a late comeback attempt.
Sharpe-and-Simons Fourth Quarter
The Blazers won the fourth quarter 36-26 to push the game back to just a 10-point Celtics win. Simons had 15 points in the final frame and Sharpe had 12 points to allow the pair to outscore Boston by themselves.
Despite the scoring outburst from the pair of flashy guards, it proved to be too little too late to come all the way back from the 20-point deficit going into the quarter.
Rebounding Deficit
The Blazers, who have been a very good rebounding team this season, got beat 52-39 on the boards in the game. That included 18 offensive rebounds from the Celtics which led to 23 second chance points. With such an efficient shooting night from Boston, allowing them to rebound the rare shot they were missing was not a recipe for success in the contest.
Easy Offense
Defense was not the defining characteristic of either team in this contest. Portland shot 50% from the field and 40% from three-point range, met by a 46% from the field and 43% from deep showing from Boston. Both teams found themselves the recipients of plenty of open shots on the perimeter and in the paint. While there was some resistance from both defenses, the two teams combined for just 17 turnovers in the game.
Jabari Walker
Before Simons and Sharpe erupted in the fourth quarter, the game seemed to be trending towards a blowout. During that span, one of, if not the only, bright spot for the Blazers was Walker. The forward finished with 22 points on 8/9 shooting from the field and a career-high six three pointers made. He did all of his damage in the first three quarters of the game, including scoring 14 points and making four shots from behind the arc in the third quarter. His offensive production was keeping the Blazers alive through Boston’s runs and set up Portland to make a comeback attempt late in the game.
Up Next
The Blazers will finish off their gauntlet of the NBA’s top teams with a road matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder at 5:00 PST on Friday, March 7.
