Celtics fall to Blazers 129 – 119 late as Smart ejected, Brown, Tatum hurt in waning moments
The Boston Celtics hung with the Portland Trail Blazers for just under 47 minutes of game time, but a series of injuries, blunders and questionable calls ultimately doomed the Celtics to fall to the Trail Blazers 129 – 119 Sunday evening.
While Portland led for most of the game, it was a close contest throughout. A late ejection of veteran guard Marcus Smart after an apparent moving screen by Blazers’ big man Jusuf Nurkic that spurred double fouls including a technical that triggered his removal for contacting Nurkic’s groin area was likely the tipping point that decided the game, but a collision between Celtics star wings Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum certainly sealed the deal.
No official word as of this writing on either of their statuses in terms of health.
Boston’s Aaron Nesmith continues to impress with his solid, timely play. https://t.co/mLZqQWisIf
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) May 2, 2021
Boston was led by Tatum yet again, who put up 33 points and 5 assists on 11-of-19 overall, 4-of-5 from beyond the arc and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Shooting guard Evan Fournier had his best post-COVID game with 21 points and 5 rebounds and star wing Jaylen Brown added 16 points and 11 boards. Off the bench, rookie small forward Aaron Nesmith continued his excellent play, scoring 16 points and 4 rebounds, while rookie floor general Payton Pritchard provided another 13 points and 6 boards. https://twitter.com/TheCelticsWire/status/1389037010149588997?s=20
Both teams oddly shot above 50% from deep, with Portland connecting at exactly that rate from 3 while Boston shot 51.3%, and the Celtics won the rebounding battle 45 -36. However, Boston turned the ball over 18 times to Portland's 10, and combined with the late misfortune was simply too much for the Celtics to recover from. Boston now drops to 34 - 31 on the season and into range of the play-in tournament by falling behind the Miami Heat into the East's seventh-place position. They'll have a chance to make up ground on Wednesday, April 5 when they face the 14th-place Orlando Magic on the road. This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook! [lawrence-related id=49779,49774,49759,49754] [listicle id=49784]
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