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Celtics (28-26) at Trail Blazers (31-22) Game #55 4/13/21
« on: April 12, 2021, 10:08:21 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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Boston Celtics (28-26) at Portland Trail Blazers (31-22)
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
10:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #55, Road Game #28
TV: TNT, NBCSB,  NBCSNW
Radio: WBZ-FM, KPOJ
Moda Center



Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard

vs
Kemba Walker vs Damian Lillard

Shooting Guard

vs
Marcus Smart vs CJ McCollum

Small Forward
vs
Jaylen Brown vs Norman Powell

Power Forward
vs
Jayson Tatum vs Robert Covington

Center
vs
Robert Williams III vs Jusuf Nurkic

Celtics Reserves
Payton Pritchard
Tremont Waters
Tacko Fall
Luke Kornet
Carsen Edwards
Aaron Nesmith
Grant Williams
Moritz Wagner
Romeo Langford
Semi Ojeleye
Tristan Thompson

Injuries
Evan Fournier (covid) out

Head Coach
Brad Stevens




Trail Blazers Reserves
Carmelo Anthony
CJ Elleby
Harry Giles III
Derrick Jones, Jr
Enes Kanter
Nassir Little
Anfernee Simons
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
Keljin Blevins

Injuries
Zach Collins (ankle) out

Head Coach
Terry Stotts

Game Notes
The Celtics continue their Western road trip with a stop in Portland to take on Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers.  This is the second game of a 3 game road trip  for the Celtics.  This is the 3rd game of a 3 game home stand for the Blazers.  This is the first of 2 games between these two teams this season.  They will meet again on May 2 in Boston. 

The Celtics swept the series last season 2-0.  The Celtics lead the series all time 69-47 and they lead the series in Portland 31-27.  With their win against the Nuggets on Sunday, the Celtics have won 5 of their last 6 games.  With their loss to the Heat on Sunday, the Trail Blazers have lost 4 of their last 6 games.  The Trail Blazers are playing in their 3rd game in 4 nights after playing a back to back on Saturday and Sunday.   

The Celtics remain in 7th place in the East.  They are tied with Charlotte (6) and half a game behind Miami (5) and 1 game behind Atlanta (4).   They are 1 game ahead of New York (#8) and 2 games ahead of Indiana (9).  The Celtics are 7-3 in their last 10 games and 11-16 on the road.  They have won 3 straight games.  They are 10-12 against Western teams.

The Trail Blazers are 6th in the West.  They are 2 games behind the Los Angeles Lakers, who are 5th and 3 games behind the 4th place Denver Nuggets.  They are 1.5 games ahead of 7th place Dallas and 4 ahead of 8th place Dallas.  They are 16-11 at home and 6-4 in their last 10 games.  They are 15-8 vs Eastern teams.

Both teams are as close to full strength as teams get this time of year with each team missing just one player.   For the Celtics, Evan Fournier remains out due to the league's health and safety protocols.  For the Trail Blazers, Zach Collins remains out after surgery to his left ankle. 

Key Matchups
vs
Kemba Walker vs Damian Lillard
Damian Lillard is averaging 28.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 7.6 assists.  He is shooting 44.1% from the field and 37.8% from beyond the arc.   He is a threat to shoot from anywhere on the court and it is certain that Kemba will need some help slowing him down.  Ordinarily, Marcus Smart or Jaylen Brown could cover Lillard, but they will have their hands full with CJ McCollum and Norman Powell. 

vs
Marcus Smart vs CJ McCollum
McCollum is averaging 23.5 points, 3,8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game.  He is shooting 44.9% from the field and 40.2% from beyond the arc.  Both Lillard and McCollum are capable of big games and both need to be well defended. 

Honorable Mention
Jaylen Brown vs Norman Powell
Powell was acquired from Toronto at the trade deadline and is a big addition to the Trail Blazers.  He is averaging 19.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals.  He is averaging 16.3 points since he arrived in Portland but is still capable of putting up big numbers if not guarded closely.

Keys to the Game
Defense -  Defense is a key to winning every game.  The Celtics haven't been the toughest team on defense this season but we saw them show that they are capable of playing good defense when they held the Denver Nuggets to just 8 points in the 4th quarter on Sunday. The Blazers average 115.0 points and so the Celtics will need to play tough defense in this one as they won't win a shoot out against them.  The Celtics are 14th in the league with a defensive rating of 111.4 while the Blazers are 29th with a defensive rating of 116.0.  The Celtics need to make defense a priority if they want to get a win in this game.

Rebound - The Celtics must make an extra effort to grab rebounds in order to give themselves extra possessions as well as to keep the Blazers from cashing in with second chance points since they are 2nd in the league with 15.0 second chance points per game.  This shouldn't be a surprise since they have Enes Kanter, who is one of the best offensive rebounders in the season and who is coming off a 30 rebound game. The Celtics must work harder on the boards if they want to win this one.

Move the Ball Carefully - One of the keys to winning for the Celtics is to move the ball and find the open man.  When they play hero ball, it usually doesn't end well.  While they have to move the ball, they also have to be careful with their passes.  In their recent losses, the Celtics averaged 19 turnovers per game and they have to take better care of the ball, especially since the Blazers only turn the ball over 11 times on average per game.   The Celtics must move the ball and look for the open man and play as a team. 

Be Aggressive -  The Celtics have to be the team that works harder and wants the win more.  They have to dive for loose balls, go for every rebound and just hustle on every play on both ends of the court.  They have to be aggressive in getting to the basket as well and not settle for outside shots, especially if they aren't falling.  When they got back in the game against the Nuggets, it was with layups and not threes. 

Play Hard for 48 Minutes
In their last 2 wins, the Celtics started off slowly and dug themselves into a hole.  Against the Timberwolves, they were down by 17 points and against the Nuggets, they were down by as many as 14 before they started playing hard and came back.  The Celtics need to start off strong and then play hard for the entire 48 minutes.  If they keep digging themselves a hole, it's going to come back to bite them.  They need to come out with energy and not play hard right from the beginning of the game. 

X-Factors
On the Road - The Celtics are on the road and have to deal with travel, a hostile crowd (even though a smaller one), and an unfamiliar court along with a time change.  They have to block out all the distractions that playing on the road brings and concentrate on playing Celtics basketball.  Young players especially seem to struggle on the road and so the veterans will need to keep the young players focused and playing the right way.

Officiating -  I know that I say this every game,  but the officiating really is always an x-factor in every game.  Every crew calls the game differently whether they call every little ticky tack foul or they let a lot of contact go and let the teams play.  Some refs favor the home team and some not so much.  The Celtics have got to adjust to the way the game is being called and not let themselves get frustrated by the officiating. 

Re: Celtics (28-26) at Trail Blazers (31-22) Game #55 4/13/21
« Reply #1 on: April 12, 2021, 10:09:30 PM »

Offline gouki88

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Let's go! Not excited to see Lillard, but we can do this
'23 Historical Draft: Orlando Magic.

PG: Terry Porter (90-91) / Steve Francis (00-01)
SG: Joe Dumars (92-93) / Jeff Hornacek (91-92) / Jerry Stackhouse (00-01)
SF: Brandon Roy (08-09) / Walter Davis (78-79)
PF: Terry Cummings (84-85) / Paul Millsap (15-16)
C: Chris Webber (00-01) / Ralph Sampson (83-84) / Andrew Bogut (09-10)

Re: Celtics (28-26) at Trail Blazers (31-22) Game #55 4/13/21
« Reply #2 on: April 12, 2021, 10:09:50 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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TP to  gouki88  for being the first to post in the game thread!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Celtics!!!

Beat the Trail Blazers!!! 

Re: Celtics (28-26) at Trail Blazers (31-22) Game #55 4/13/21
« Reply #3 on: April 12, 2021, 10:10:45 PM »

Offline liam

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LET'S GO CELTICS!!!!!

Pritchard comes home!!!!

Re: Celtics (28-26) at Trail Blazers (31-22) Game #55 4/13/21
« Reply #4 on: April 12, 2021, 10:20:56 PM »

Offline Ogaju

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TP FLCF  for another great game thread

Go CELTICS BEAT THE trailblazers

Re: Celtics (28-26) at Trail Blazers (31-22) Game #55 4/13/21
« Reply #5 on: April 12, 2021, 10:21:20 PM »

Online Silas

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Let’s go Cs. 
I've lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.   -  Mark Twain

Re: Celtics (28-26) at Trail Blazers (31-22) Game #55 4/13/21
« Reply #6 on: April 12, 2021, 10:35:32 PM »

Kiorrik

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TP FL <3

Keen for this one.

It's a really big stretch of games for us. Gotta prove what we're worth. I don't think this is a make-or-break game, but it's part of how we (and the rest of the league) look at them going into the playoffs.

Was hoping to see Fournier in these. We need to get that rhythm with him in there. Alas.

Let's go Celtics!

Re: Celtics (28-26) at Trail Blazers (31-22) Game #55 4/13/21
« Reply #7 on: April 12, 2021, 10:45:50 PM »

Offline gouki88

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At least we don't have to deal with Gary Trent Jr.!
'23 Historical Draft: Orlando Magic.

PG: Terry Porter (90-91) / Steve Francis (00-01)
SG: Joe Dumars (92-93) / Jeff Hornacek (91-92) / Jerry Stackhouse (00-01)
SF: Brandon Roy (08-09) / Walter Davis (78-79)
PF: Terry Cummings (84-85) / Paul Millsap (15-16)
C: Chris Webber (00-01) / Ralph Sampson (83-84) / Andrew Bogut (09-10)

Re: Celtics (28-26) at Trail Blazers (31-22) Game #55 4/13/21
« Reply #8 on: April 12, 2021, 11:04:19 PM »

Offline slamtheking

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TP for another great thread FL.  let's keep the streak rolling

Re: Celtics (28-26) at Trail Blazers (31-22) Game #55 4/13/21
« Reply #9 on: April 12, 2021, 11:21:54 PM »

Online hwangjini_1

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another thread another victory for the celtics. thanks flc and a tp for the great work.

celtics are rolling now and will crush these evil blazers.  >:(


goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo celtics!!  ;D
I believe Gandhi is the only person who knew about real democracy — not democracy as the right to go and buy what you want, but democracy as the responsibility to be accountable to everyone around you. Democracy begins with freedom from hunger, freedom from unemployment, freedom from fear, and freedom from hatred.
- Vandana Shiva

Re: Celtics (28-26) at Trail Blazers (31-22) Game #55 4/13/21
« Reply #10 on: April 12, 2021, 11:29:54 PM »

Offline tarheelsxxiii

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Re: Celtics (28-26) at Trail Blazers (31-22) Game #55 4/13/21
« Reply #11 on: April 12, 2021, 11:50:48 PM »

Offline CaNdyMaN1369

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Let's Go Celtics!!!                      :)                        Let's Beat the Trail Blazerz!!!

TP...             FLCF...

Re: Celtics (28-26) at Trail Blazers (31-22) Game #55 4/13/21
« Reply #12 on: April 12, 2021, 11:52:15 PM »

Offline tarheelsxxiii

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Re: Celtics (28-26) at Trail Blazers (31-22) Game #55 4/13/21
« Reply #13 on: April 13, 2021, 12:56:42 AM »

Kiorrik

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Re: Celtics (28-26) at Trail Blazers (31-22) Game #55 4/13/21
« Reply #14 on: April 13, 2021, 07:24:46 AM »

Offline hodgy03038

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Let's GO Celts. We need this against a team that also needs it.