The Blazers entered the night in 12th place in the Western Conference standings, but were very much in contention for a playoff spot. They had the same record as the Thunder (11th) and Pelicans (10th) and were just one game behind the ninth-place Lakers.
TIPS
Trail Blazers: Outscored 25-17 in the second quarter, shooting 4-of-17 from the field (24%). … Lillard started the game with a pair of 3-pointers. He finished the first period missing four of his last six shots.
Celtics: Payton Pritchard sat with pain in her left heel. … Horford hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter, passing Isaiah Thomas (460) for ninth on the franchise’s all-time list. With the go-ahead in the first quarter, Marcus Smart became the 25th player in team history to score 6,000 points. … Started the game 9-of-15 from 3 before missing 12 straight to end the first half. … The Celtics led 35-28 late in the first, shooting 58 percent (11-of-19).
FURTHER
Trail Blazers at 76ers on Friday.
CELTICS 115, BLAZERS 93
PORTLAND (93) — Grant 5-12 0-0 13, Tibul 1-6 0-0 2, Nurkic 2-6 1-4 5, Lillard 7-16 11-11 27, Redesh 3-8 3-3 10, Knox II 0-2 0-0 0, Walker 1-2 0-0 3, Watford 5-14 2-2 12, Eubanks 1-1 0-0 2, Little 1-5 0-0 3, Johnson 0-2 4-4 4, Sharp 4-8 1-3 12. Total 30-82 22-27 93.
BOSTON (115) — Brown 4-10 3-3 11, Tatum 11-17 2-4 30, Horford 7-11 0-0 17, Smart 3-4 2-4 10, White 8-12 4-4 21, Griffin 0-1 0-0 0, Hauser 3-9 2-2 11, Williams 3-8 0-1 8, Cornet 0-0 0-0 0, Muscala 0-0 0-0 0, Brogdon 2-13 0 -2 5, Davison 1-3 0-0 2. Total 42-88 13-20 115.
