The Portland Trail Blazers showed up to Boston ready to win on Sunday night. The Boston Celtics, unable to finish with a win, lost 129-119. Following this game, the Celtics now have a record of 34-31. The Trail Blazers are now tied with the Celtics in the season series after losing to them earlier this season 116-115. After winning this matchup, the Trail Blazers are now on a 4-game winning streak.
CJ McCollum Scores 33 Points
Shooting guard CJ McCollum played a huge part in the Trail Blazers winning Sunday night. McCollum shot 12/20 from the field, 4/8 from the three-point line, and 3/4 from the free-throw line. This season McCollum is averaging roughly 23 points per game. After ending with 33 points, McCollum also had 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Ten of his 33 points were scored in the fourth quarter, helping the Trail Blazers to hold on for the win.
Trail Blazers Outscore the Celtics
In all quarters beside the second, the Trail Blazers were able to outscore the Celtics. In the first quarter, the Trail Blazers outscored the Celtics 34-32. By the end of the second quarter, the score was 71-71, the Celtics outscoring the Trailblazers 39-37. Twenty-four of the 71 points the Celtics were able to score in the first two quarters were made by Jayson Tatum. Tatum, who had a record-breaking game on Friday night against the San Antonio Spurs, ended with 33 points. The third and fourth quarters were important for the Trail Blazers in winning this matchup. In the second half, the Trail Blazers outscored the Celtics, 32-27 in the third and 26-21 in the fourth.
Along with outscoring the Celtics, there were many things the Trail Blazers were able to benefit from. One of these things is the fact that the Celtics had 6 turnovers in just the third quarter. Overall, the Celtics had 18 turnovers, whereas the Trail Blazers only had 10. The largest lead of the game was 10 points for the Trail Blazers, and the Celtics’ biggest lead was only 6 points. This was game 4 of 6 for the Trail Blazers on their road trip, now going 4-4. This team was one ready to fight for the win and shot 50% from the three-point line and 51.8% from the field.
Evan Fournier for 21 Points
Evan Fournier has been a key player for the Celtics in recent games. Fournier has slowly started to show off his skill more with each game. During this matchup, Fournier earned the start for the Celtics. Known for shooting from the three-point line, he went 5/7 during this matchup. In the field, Fournier went 8/10 and ended the matchup with 21 points.
Up Next
The Celtics will head on the road to face up against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, May 5th, at 7:00 pm. The Trail Blazers will look to continue their winning streak as they will go up against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday, May 3rd at 8:00 pm.
