Despite a good shooting night of their own, the Portland Trail Blazers had no answer for the seven million threes rained upon them by the Boston Celtics and eventually fell 129-116.
With both teams missing a handful of starters, the Boston Celtics showed that they were the better team: offensively, defensively, and in most any other way that mattered. Both teams were hot from deep (Portland was 19-48 and Boston 23-50), but Portland couldn’t handle both a 30-point Jayson Tatum game AND the Celtics putting six total players in double figures.
Blazer of the Game
Shaedon Sharpe. He continues to dazzle us with some of the most aesthetically pleasing dunks you could ask for, but one drive in particular – where he went nearly perpendicular to the floor through two defenders for the hoop and the harm – shows why Sharpe’s athleticism isn’t just beautiful, but functional. He finished with 23 points, 6 boards, and 4 dimes
Stat of the Night
50: The number of threes Boston attempted, as they showed once again why they lead the league in triples attempted with 48.2. The Blazers average just 37.1, so the 47 they heaved was a bit of an anomoly.
What We’ll Remember
The Blazers trying (and failing) to contain the three. Look: they were (mostly) trying. Especially in the first half, the Blazers were SPRINTING to contest Boston’s long ball, sometimes biting on pump fakes and flying by only to watch helplessly as the shooter gathered and shot. But when a team can credibly put four players on the floor who can shoot and you have to cover that much ground, it’s just going to be too much for most teams, and it was for Portland tonight.
Crab Dribbles
Scoot HendersonAnfernee Simons sailed a pass so far above his teammate’s head in the first quarter that Blazers TV play-by-play Kevin Calabro had to count: “One, two, three… four rows up.”- After falling down double digits in the first, the Blazers came all the way back to tie it up at 43 halfway through the second… then fell behind double digits before halftime due to a predictable barrage of Celtics threes (though at half, Boston had only taken and made three more than Portland).
- Jayson Tatum woke up after a quiet first half, scoring 18 points in the third quarter alone after getting just 6 first half points.
Up Next
Paul Navarre, arranging dozens of crystal spheres just so, will allow the setting sun over the west Portland hills to refract light into a point of singularity, and with that beam he will burn the extended recap into papyrus before putting it on the Internet for us to read. The Blazers stay home again to take on the east-leading Cleveland Cavaliers at 7pm. Tue. March 25.
