The Boston Celtics were victorious against the Portland trail blazers on Tuesday night by a final score of 116-115. This game was tightly contested for most of the duration, Jayson Tatum hitting a dagger shot with 8.5 seconds left would secure the victory for the Celtics.
The Celtics came out hot from the start shooting 5-6 right out of the gate; both teams were trading baskets. The Blazers would continue to shoot lights out from behind the arch as the Celtics got cold. The Blazers ended the first quarter on a 9-2 run extending their lead 38-30.
Boston did not have an answer for the Blazers hot shooting, they were scoring at all 3 levels from the floor. The Celtics struggled finding their groove on defense yet again. At the half the Blazers were hanging on to a 60-57 lead.
In the third quarter, it kept going back and fourth yet again both teams were hitting shots and making tough plays. Midway through the third the Blazers would go on a 6-0 run extending their lead 76-70 with 6:27 to play in the third quarter. The Blazers were making key defensive stops to get the Celtics out of their groove. The Celtics got back to playing Celtics basketball closing out the quarter on a 10-2 run with a 92-87 lead.
This Celtics run was guided by getting great stops on defense and continuing that great ball movement that the Celtics showed all game. And a great quarter by Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart.
In the fourth quarter, Both teams were trading buckets the Celtics went on a 6-2 run extending their lead 96-89. The Blazers would quickly pull within three as the Blazers would not go away as they would keep playing catch up with the Celtics.
In final three minutes, Jayson Tatum would put the Celtics on his back as it was back and forth scoring for both teams. Jayson Tatum would then hit a dagger three with 8.5 seconds remaining to put the Celtics up 116-112. The Blazers would not be able to catch up, as the Celtics would run out the clock.
The Celtics had five players score in double figures. Leading the way for the Celtics was Jayson Tatum with 32 points on 10-17 shooting, Rob Williams had 16 points and 7 rebounds on 8-12 shooting. Kemba Walker scored 21 points on 7-17 shooting, Marcus Smart also had 13 points on 4-9 shooting. And Jaylen Brown had 24 points on 9-21 shooting.
The Trail Blazers had three players score in double figures. Leading the way for the Blazers was Damian Lillard with 28 points on 9-23 shooting, CJ Mccollum had 16 points on 6-19 shooting. Norman Powell also scored 20 points on 8-15 shooting.
The Celtics improve to 29-26 on the season, and will travel to Los Angeles to wrap up a three game road trip. They’ll to face the Lakers on Thursday at 10PM EST