Trail Blazers 92, Celtics 86
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Wesley Matthews scored 24 points -- including a decisive 3-pointer with 53.6 seconds left -- to lift the Portland Trail Blazers to a 92-86 victory over the Boston Celtics on Sunday night at the Rose Garden.
All five starters scored in double figures for the Trail Blazers (26-30), who snapped a season-high, seven-game losing streak and also ended a six-game loss string against the Celtics.
Nicolas Batum scored 18 points for Portland, while LaMarcus Aldridge had 16, Damian Lillard 12 and J.J. Hickson 11. Hickson added a game-high 11 rebounds.
Paul Pierce totaled 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for Boston (29-27). Kevin Garnett added 20 points and nine rebounds. The Celtics are 1-3 on their five-game road trip, which ends Monday night in Utah.
Portland led 52-44 early in the third quarter before Boston used an 11-2 run to go on top 55-54. The Blazers took a 71-67 advantage into the final period.
Aldridge's 17-footer gave Portland an 82-74 lead with 5:48 to play. The Blazers were still in front 86-82 with three minutes to play, but Boston tied the game at 86-86 on Garnett's driving layup.
Lillard converted a three-point play to give Portland an 89-86 edge with 1:32 remaining. Matthews followed with the clinching trey.
Boston probably felt fortunate to trail only 49-42 at the half. The Celtics shot only 37.8 percent while the Blazers fired at a 51.4 percent clip through intermission. Portland hurt its cause, though, with 10 first-half turnovers.
Matthews scored 15 points in the first half, sinking five of six shots from the field, including two of three from 3-point range. Pierce had 14 points, four rebounds and three assists at the break.
Portland wound up making just 44.3 percent of its shots for the night, slightly better than Boston's 42.4 percent rat.e
NOTES: Portland beat Boston for the first time since December 2008. ... Sunday marked the Portland debut of Eric Maynor, acquired Thursday in a deal with Oklahoma City. Maynor, who scored two points, is backing up Damian Lillard at the point. ... Jordan Crawford, recently acquired by Boston in a trade with Washington, was held scoreless in 12 minutes off the bench. He scored 19 points in 27 minutes in the Wizards' 84-82 win over Portland on Nov. 28. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard had 13 points -- including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer -- in 22 reserve minutes in the Wizards' 98-95 victory at the Rose Garden on Jan. 21. "He can score," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "That's what we want from him. But we're going to ask for more, once he gets comfortable with our team. He has had one game with us, zero practices and one shootaround. It's not like we're expecting a lot out of him right now, but we will as the year goes along." ... Boston limited Lillard to 5-for-16 shooting. Lillard added six rebounds and six assists.
