Post Game - Celtics vs. Portland Trail Blazers - Sunday, April 07 (W)

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401585762

Celtics-Blazers takeaways: Jaylen leads C's to 13th straight home win

https://sports.yahoo.com/celtics-blazers-takeaways-jaylen-leads-001917888.html

Justin Leger
Sun, Apr 7, 2024, 8:25 PM EDT·3 min read

Celtics-Blazers takeaways: Jaylen leads C's to 13th straight home win originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics held off the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday for their fifth consecutive win -- their 13th straight at TD Garden.

Boston's hot shooting was the difference in its 124-107 victory as it was a scorching 56.3 percent from the floor, including 16-for-38 (42.1 percent) from 3-point range. Portland dominated in the offensive rebounding department (22-5) but couldn't keep up offensively, shooting just 39.2 percent.

Jaylen Brown returned to the Celtics lineup after missing Friday's win over Sacramento. With Jayson Tatum (knee) out, he led the way with 26 points. Payton Pritchard stayed hot with 20 points in 25 minutes.

Ex-Celtic Dalano Banton led the Blazers with 28 points off the bench. Deandre Ayton chipped in 22.

The Celtics (62-16) have four games left on their regular-season schedule. They'll visit the second-place Milwaukee Bucks (47-30) on Tuesday.

First, here are three takeaways from Sunday's game.

A memorable night for Jaylen Brown

Brown returned to the Celtics' lineup in style. After missing Friday's win over Sacramento, he propelled the Tatum-less C's to victory with a game-high 26 points on an efficient 10-of-17 shooting (3-5 3-PT).

In the third quarter, Brown tallied his 17th point of the game to become the 15th Celtics player ever to reach 10,000 career points. He fittingly accomplished the feat with a left-handed layup.

You can watch the historic highlight below:

Brown has dealt with a hand issue since Wednesday, but it appears to be a non-factor. That's great news for a C's team that will need Brown to continue to play the way he has since the All-Star break when the playoffs begin.

Hot shooting outweighs poor rebounding

With six players scoring in double figures and a sizzling 56.3 percent shooting from the field, the final score should have been even more lopsided. Boston could have dominated throughout had it not been for its poor offensive rebounding.

The Blazers had a 22-5 advantage on the offensive glass, resulting in 21 second-chance points to the Celtics' seven. They dominated Boston on the boards, 53-40.

Sixteen of Portland's offensive rebounds came in the first half, its highest total in any half this season and the most allowed by the C's in any half this year.

It took a dominant shooting performance to overshadow those rebounding woes. Along with Brown, Pritchard helped the C's pull away with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Sam Hauser bounced back from his woeful 1-18 performance with a 4-of-6 night from the field (2-4 3-PT). Jrue Holiday hit five of his eight shots.

Old friend Dalano Banton shines in return to Garden

Banton began the season with the Celtics but was traded to the Blazers for a top-55 protected 2027 second-round pick. While this wasn't quite a "revenge game" due to the final result, it was an impressive performance by the 24-year-old guard.

Banton got off to a fast start with 15 first-half points. He continued to make an impact off the Blazers bench in the final two frames, finishing with a game-high 28 points on 11-of-23 shooting (3-9 3-PT). He made more 3-pointers in this game than he did in 24 games with the Celtics this season (two).

C's head coach Joe Mazzulla heaped praise on Banton prior to the matchup.

“He was here and did a great job," Mazzulla said. "He’s getting much more of an opportunity there and he’s taking advantage of that. Just a credit to his work ethic and I’m happy for him.”

Banton added nine assists, three rebounds, and a steal to the stat sheet against his former team. He's averaging 16.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 27 games for Portland.

During Sunday's game, Banton was recognized on the TD Garden jumbotron alongside fellow ex-Celtics Robert Williams and Malcolm Brogdon.

We are now 35-3 @ home this season.  I think the only year with a better home court record was the Championship year of 85-86.  This is why that last Magic Number was SO important.  Da Gahden crowd is liking having 6 players on the floor all game.

Congrats to Jaylen on reaching 10,000 points.

Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
about 7 hours ago
By crossing over 10,000 points Sunday, Jaylen Brown and his partner in basketball crime, have now doubled the roll call in this club... NBA – BY AGE 27 10,000 points 2,500 rebounds 500 steals 1,000 3’s Kevin Durant James Harden JAYSON TATUM JAYLEN BROWN End of list.


Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
Jaylen Brown just reached 10,000 career points.

He’s the 15th man to score 10,000 as a Boston Celtic.

Turning 27 last October, he's the 61st in NBA history to reach 10,000 at his age.



What's impressive about this is that Jaylen played about 1100 fewer minutes in his rookie season than Jayson did. Remember, Jaylen came off the bench for 58 of the 78 games he played? Jayson averaged 30mpg his rookie season, Jaylen only averaged 17mpg, and yet despite that Jaylen is within shouting distance of almost conscience-less gunner Jayson Tatum. Jayson has never seen a shot he doesn't like, Jaylen is much more discriminating.


Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
The Celtics in their last 29 games?

25-4.

The final 29 games of the 2008 title team's regular season?

25-4.

Live long enough, you see everything.

Really live long enough, you see everything twice.




Remember last year, how we always seemed to need a rally to come back from a deficit to win?  Not this year...

Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
yesterday
The Celtics led by as many as 19 in their 13th straight home win Sunday night. Boston has now had a 19-point lead in 21 of the last 24 games. They've trailed by 19 three times all year. 2023-24 BOSTON CELTICS 19-point leads: 42 19-point deficits: 3









Bobby Manning @RealBobManning
yesterday
Svi Mykhailiuk shooting 11/24 3PT since he started getting some depth wing minutes in mid-March. Has shown well after not playing for much of this year. Svi-Brissett-Pritchard-Tillman-Hauser on in the 4Q.


Payton is in playoff mode already.  20 points on 9-13, 2-4 from 3, 8 assists and 2 turnovers.  He's still in 7th place in the league for assist-to-turnover ratio.

Sam showing that the last game was an aberration.  4-6, 2-4 from 3.  He's still shooting 42.8% from 3 despite that game.

Another 5 block game for Z.  He's 9th in the NBA in blocks/game @ 1.9 (Wemby is an eye-popping 3.6.  Derrick is #18)


On to a meaningless road game in Milwaukee, who just lost their 4th straight.


Bob


.

Obviously these games are meaningless, but I really enjoyed how the bench performed in the fourth quarter. I think we had a lineup of PP, Sam, Tillman, Brissett, and Svi. These guys really clicked. They turned a relatively close game into an easy victory. Look I know we weren't playing the 96 Bulls, but still a nice effort to see.