BSJ Game Report: Cetlics 121, Blazers 99 - Aggressive C's, hot Hauser, cruise past Portland

- First to 50: Boston is now 50-14 on the season, staying 8.5 games ahead of Milwaukee. The magic number to clinch the East is now 10, and it’s 14 to clinch the top overall seed. 

TURNING POINT

The Blazers went on a 15-5 run in the third quarter to cut the lead to nine with 1:36 to go, but Jam Hauser and Jaylen Brown hit shots to close the quarter, part of a 17-8 run that pushed the game to 18 with 8:40 to go in the fourth and Portland never really challenged after that. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Jaylen Brown: He bullied his way to the rim in this one. He was aggressive from the jump. Since the All-Star break, he’s averaged six more points on 4% better shooting overall, 4.1% better from 3. He’s rebounding better and turning the ball over less. The only issue has been his free throw shooting, which didn’t apply here. He also had six rebounds and five assists. 

- Starting Payton Pritchard:  Nice move by Mazzulla to get Pritchard out there in front of his hometown crowd. He responded with a very nice 11/8/8. 

“The best thing about Payton that people don't appreciate is his defense and his, just, tenacity,” Mazzulla said. “We all know he could score, we all know he could shoot, but his level of defensive intensity has been huge for us throughout this year, and he's really developed a role in his defense in his rebounding.”

- Jayson Tatum: He finished with 26 points, eight assists, five rebounds. He didn't shoot great, though a stretch of misses at the rim and a couple of forced 3-pointers dragged him down. 

- Sam Hauser: Finished 6-10 from 3 for 22 points. Toss in a couple of steals for the fun of it. 

- Derrick White: Another rough shooting night but he was in the middle of almost everything good from Boston, especially in the first half. Finished with 11 points, six rebounds, five assists, two steals, and a block. 

- Al Horford: He was 3-3 from 3 in the first quarter. He lit the fuse. 

- Luke Kornet:  He’s been on a nice run lately. He’s just been around a lot of good plays on both ends of the floor. He’s defending the rim, he’s passing well, and he’s finishing around the rim on lobs or putbacks. He’s been very strong, especially considering Boston has been missing Kristaps Porzingis. He’s filling in well. 

- Turnovers: Boston had just three and no one had more than one. Meanwhile, the Blazers turned it over 11 times but the Celtics cashed in on almost all of them for 19 points. 

- Blocked shots: Boston had 10 of them. Horford and White had three apiece. 

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE

- Nothing significant: They gave up a couple of runs and they let Deandre Ayton step into a few too many uncontested mid-range shots, but overall I think this was a pretty solid game with nothing notable to really complain about. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- This really WAS a shot-selection dream

I’m tired of writing pieces that explain “Mazzulla Ball” isn’t just a ton of 3-pointers because people don’t want to believe it. They just see 40 3-pointers and go “SEE!! HE LOVES DA THREES.” 

But when the opponent has no rim protection, the Celtics gladly get to the rim. They took 25 shots at the rim and 49 shots in the paint overall, so they drove more than they shot. 

Will the Celtics have some games where they settle? Sure. But this game, especially considering they might have wanted to save their legs for the Tuesday night game in Utah, was Boston in full attack mode all night long. 

Next up: The Celtics make the tough turnaround and play in Utah tomorrow night (or later tonight, if you will).