5 takeaways as Jayson Tatum leads the rising Celtics over Trail Blazers

COMMENT

The Boston Celtics kept the Portland Trail Blazers on point and scored a 116-115 victory while their road trip continued.

Here’s what happened.

The big picture

Similar to their victory over Denver Nuggets Sunday, the Celtics service held up early against Portland’s stars and joined behind Jayson Tatum’s big third quarter to take the lead. Tatum continued to shine in the fourth quarter, and the Celtics held off the Blazers in the final minutes. Marcus Smart deliberately missed a free throw at the end of the game, and the Celtics forced Damian Lillard in a full lane at the buzzer to claim their second on the field.

Star of the game

Jayson Tatum – 32 points, 10-for-17 from the floor, 9 rebounds, 5 assists

Tatum starts slowly and lets the game come to him. When that finally happened, he threw in 25 points from the second half, including a massive 3-pointer that gave the Celtics a significant lead.

Why it matters

What a turnaround for this team that just looked dead in the water a few weeks ago. Tuesday’s victory (which blossomed deep back in Boston on Wednesday) gave the Celtics a major victory that put them in fifth place in the standings after losses by the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat. They also remain just a game behind the Atlanta Hawks, who beat the Raptors.

These games make everything matter, even if it feels early to look at the scoreboard. The battle to avoid the play-off tournament continues.

Takeaways

1. Jayson Tatum’s recent record is reminiscent of last year’s run, when he was perhaps the league’s best player in February. If he is clearly the best player of the team, and if the ball keeps moving, even though he is the best player of the team, the Celtics attack has a lot of popularity that was lacking earlier in the season.

2. The Celtics worked Enes Kanter, who finished -18 in his 20 minutes. As the Celtics learned last season, Kanter is an abysmal defender, and when Jusuf Nurkic went to the bench, the Celtics ensured a diet of open looks and roads to the basket. The Blazers came out of a timeout in the fourth quarter and took Kanter out of the game, leaving Nurkic on the bench to buy him another minute of rest. They decided to go without a big man in hopes of furthering the Celtics’ offense.

The Celtics miss Kanter sometimes, especially against the Sixers. However, they do not miss his pick-and-roll defense.

3. Kemba Walker kept the Celtics alive in the first half as Jaylen Brown shot 5-for-14 and Tatum scored just seven points. Walker picked up a couple of three-pointers and showed and showed that he was still bursting into long pieces. He scored just seven points in the second half and rather passed the baton to Tatum.

Since the Celtics’ recent play is higher, the only thing Walker might be missing is consistent. If he gets in shape as the season progresses, the Celtics could become a team, even if the best candidates will not look forward to it.

4. Marcus Smart put together a phenomenal defensive display, and no game was more impressive than this one – Smart pigeon tried to correct a steal and apparently pulled himself out, then flew into the frame again and gave a pass stolen from Enes Kanter. The subsequent Celtics possession ends with a try from Tatum.

Marcus Smart all the fuss and heart pic.twitter.com/mc3foAhosx

– CJ Fogler #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) 14 April 2021

But Smart was also excellent against Damian Lillard – one of the league’s most dangerous scorers. He followed a difficult line by being aggressive enough to make Lillard uncomfortable while holding back his hands and avoiding mistakes – a performance that Brad Stevens praised after the game as one of the best he has had this season against the Blazers’ star.

5. The Celtics struggled in the last minutes to jump back, and it almost cost them. In one important way, they had three chances to end Portland’s offensive possession and allowed the Blazers to retain possession each time. Eventually, the Blazers ran an incoming set that freed Lillard for an open three-pointer that tied the game.

The Celtics got away with it on Tuesday, but they need to clean up the moments ahead.