Celtics beat the Trail Blazers with resilience and defense: 90-89

Prince contributes to the Celtics' comeback with a nice slam dunk

The Celtics are a fun bunch to watch even if they have been a new team every week for the past month or so. They have beaten the Pelicans, they have given a hard time to the Clippers in the beginning of this road trip, and tonight they have upset the Trail Blazers at home. Yes, the Trail Blazers are missing LaMarcus Aldridge, but still they are a great team. Celtics' "grit and balls" basketball is back!

The star of the game was Brandon Bass. When it was reported that there was going to be a change in the starting lineup, I assumed that it would be Marcus Smart. Instead it was Bass, and boy did he play great: 13 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. To add to his performance, he overcame a slight injury too after taking a hard fall on his right arm. This guy is all hustle. COME ON CONTENDERS, GIVE THIS GUY A CHANCE!

Also impressive were Jared Sullinger (17 points on 8-14 shooting, 8 rebounds) and Avery Bradley (18 points on 8-16 shooting, 4 rebounds, 4 assists), yet how he failed to control the ball on a fast break attempt 42 seconds left on the clock could have haunted him tonight had the Celtics lost. Evan Turner's 10 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists also deserve to be mentioned, but more important was his buzzer beater-ish dagger 3 following a hustle play by Jared Sullinger. Seriously, watch that sequence if you missed it.

Oh, and then there is Marcus Smart. He didn't score any points tonight, but his defensive performance is great to watch. I might be overreacting since our season is almost meaningless at this point, but along with Bradley, who seems to have more freedom when it comes to defensive pressure, they are just bothering the crap out of their assignments. Damian Lillard and Wesley Matthews shot a combined 14-38. Ask McCollum how he felt too.

I might be wrong, but I feel like it has been a while since the Celtics won on a road trip against the Western Conference. This was an impressive victory, and one that should make coach Brad Stevens quite happy.