The Boston Celtics took down the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night, winning by a final score of 126-112. This was a good win for the Celtics on their first night of a back to back, holding Portland down for the majority of the game before a little scare in the 4th quarter from Damian Lillard. Despite having 16 turnovers, that didn't hinder the Celtics too much tonight, as they were able to get to the rim at will. This led to 35 free throw attempts for Boston, including 18 for Jayson Tatum, 16 of which he knocked down.
Boston got good contributions from multiple guys tonight, with 6 players in double figures. Sam Hauser, Blake Griffin, and Grant Williams, who weren't even a part of the double figure group, all made good impacts for the Celtics on both ends of the floor in their minutes off the bench. However, as is usually the case, the Celtics were led by their superstar tandem, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Tatum had a 34 point outing to go along with 12 rebounds, but still struggled to find his stroke behind the arc, going just 2/11 from 3. That makes Tatum just 4 for his last 29 from long range in the last 3 games now. On the other hand, Jaylen Brown continued his strong play, finishing the night with another 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, all while shooting 12/23 from the field.
Considering the recent struggles with Tatum's jumper, it's impressive that he can still record a 34 point and 12 rebound outing while shooting 2/11 from deep. I believe in the law of averages evening out when it comes to JT's outside shooting and when it does, I expect Tatum to start putting up some more 40-plus point outings soon. Doing some standings watching, with Milwaukee losing at home last night to Indiana, Boston is now just a game and a half back for the 1 seed, with the Celtics back in action Saturday night against Utah. To add some more motivation on the second night of a back to back, Boston can clinch a playoff spot tomorrow night, either with a win or a Miami loss.
