Celtics win third straight
Ray Allen scored 21 points, including eight straight early in the
fourth quarter to stymie a run by Portland, and the Boston Celtics
beat the Trail Blazers, 96-76, on Friday night.
Kevin Garnett scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half,
helping the Celtics on the second night of a difficult West Coast
two-step. After holding off the Lakers, 87-86, Thursday night in
Los Angeles, the Celtics easily dispatched a rested Portland team
and handed the Blazers their worst loss of the season.
Garnett and his frontcourt mates dominated the interior in
the first half, as Boston built an 18-point halftime lead. When
Portland made its charge in the fourth quarter, Allen knocked down
a pair of key threes to keep the lead in double figures.
Andre Miller led the Blazers with 16 points, but the debut of
Marcus Camby in Portland was a dud. Camby made his first shot, then
missed his next four. He finished with two points and seven
rebounds in 29 minutes.
All-Star Brandon Roy played 34 minutes in just his second
game since Jan. 20. Roy made three of eight shots and finished with
nine points, but struggled to get open looks and appeared
distracted by his gimpy leg.
How frustrating was it for Roy? In one of his swiftest moves
of the night, Roy sprinted baseline to gather a rebound and dunk,
only to be called for having his heel on the baseline.
But for all the angst by the Blazers' flat first three
quarters, they pulled within nine on Rudy Fernandez's three-point
play to open the fourth. But Fernandez was called for charging on
consecutive possessions -- both drawn by Glen Davis and both waving
off made baskets -- and two Allen three-pointers quickly pushed the
lead back to 15.
Portland's 76 points were a season low.
The short-handed Celtics thought they might have even fewer
bodies before the game when a sprained thumb started acting up on
Paul Pierce. He played and added nine points, and the Celtics got
33 points from their bench while still waiting for the arrival of
Nate Robinson.
Acquired in a trade with the Knicks, Robinson will remain on
the East Coast while recovering from the flu before joining his new
team.
With Camby's long arms now roaming the middle, the Blazers
were expected to get a defensive boost out of the trade that should
help solidify a middle decimated by injuries this season. But
Boston scored 32 points in the paint in the first half, shot 73
percent in the first quarter and faced little resistance getting
shots near the rim.
Boston took command with a 10-2 run early in the first
quarter where four different players scored baskets. The Celtics
bench kept the surge going into the second quarter with 11 of the
first 16 points of the quarter. Boston's reserves shot 7 of 13 in
the first half, while Portland's bench was a combined 0 for 9 with
five points.
While Portland's defense was porous, the Celtics' defense was
suffocating, especially in the second quarter. Portland managed
just three made baskets in the quarter. All three came from
Aldridge, but the first wasn't until there was 5:15 left in the
half, an emphatic dunk over Garnett and Kendrick Perkins.
Portland's 13 points in the second quarter matched a season low.
NOTES: Celtics coach Doc Rivers is expecting
Robinson to make his debut Tuesday night when the Celtics return
home to face the Knicks. ... One fan in Seattle SuperSonics gear
sat at midcourt behind the Blazers bench and flashed a Sonics flag
for television cameras on nearly every possession. ... Rondo was
called for a technical foul in the third quarter after getting
flattened by an Aldridge screen in the backcourt and threw his
mouthpiece at the Celtics bench near an official.