BOSTON – Portland’s starting backcourt has been ablaze over the last two months, but the Boston Celtics managed to cool down the likes of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum Wednesday night at TD Garden.
The Blazers’ backcourt duo did get off to a hot start, per usual, though it did not last long.
McCollum (20.6 points per game since Jan. 3) went the first 19 minutes and 47 seconds without missing a shot, and had 17 points during the first half. Lillard (26.5 PPG since Jan. 3) chipped in with 12 first-half points of his own, and Portland went into the break facing a slim 61-55 deficit.
Their hot streak would halt there, however, as Boston’s tenacious backcourt went straight into suffocation mode. Lillard was limited to just eight points during the second half and McCollum was held scoreless, missing his final eight field goal attempts after having connected on his first five attempts of the night.
Boston’s offense, meanwhile, remained consistent throughout the game. It outscored the Blazers 55-38 during the second half, en route to a 116-93 win over one of the hottest teams in basketball.
The Celtics started off the game in a bit of a hole, as they found themselves down 28-16 at the 4:02 mark of the first quarter. Their off-ball defense had struggled to that point, especially when guarding pick-and-rolls. Boston was able to adjust, however, and during the second half it hit one of its best defensive strides of the season.
“I think it’s the third time out of the last four games we’ve been down double figures in the first quarter or start of the second… which is not a good trend,” C’s coach Brad Stevens said after the game. “But we flew around about as well as we have all year in the third quarter.”
Boston outscored the Blazers 30-12 during the third frame, and its guards were glued to Portland’s high-scoring backcourt tandem the whole time.
“Their guards really do a good job of pressure. They all do,” said Portland coach Terry Stotts, whose team had won 18 of its previous 22 games. “They do a good job of pressuring catches, pushing out catches, getting into guys, aggressive on the ball, just disrupting the offense.”
Boston completely disrupted Lillard and McCollum, who, after their hot start, combined to shoot 2-for-12 from the field during the third quarter.
“They played harder than us to start the second half and we just weren’t good enough,” said Lillard. “We didn’t do a lot the things that we’ve been doing at the level we’ve been doing them, so you can’t go out there and let a team at home compete harder than you and not execute the game plan coming in.”
Coming into Wednesday’s game Lillard was in the midst of one of the most impressive scoring tears the league has seen this season – a nine-game stretch during which he averaged 32.9 PPG.
Boston’s objective was simple: Halt that trend.
One player who was particularly effective in achieving that goal was Avery Bradley, and it wasn’t the first time he’s done so. Lillard has averaged fewer points per game against the Celtics (14.2 PPG on 33.0 percent shooting) than he has versus any other opponent, and that’s largely due to Bradley’s presence on the defensive end.
“Damian Lillard, he’s a very special player,” said Bradley. “I was aware of that going into the game. I just wanted to try to make everything hard on [him and McCollum] tonight and I feel like that’s what I did.”
Not only did Bradley make it hard on them on the defensive end, he also had an impressive offensive showing, as he finished with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field.
“It’s hard to decipher which end he was better on,” said Stevens, “because he was very good offensively and he tried to do everything he could to make it as hard as he could on Lillard and McCollum. And that’s a hard job.”
Being the defensive hound he is, Bradley embraces those types of difficult jobs and rarely fails to deliver.
Wednesday night was no different, as AB and the C’s handled Portland’s scorching backcourt duo, while picking up their 12th straight win at TD Garden.
