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Game Day: Trail Blazers at Celtics

#PORatBOS Preview

BOSTON - Fresh off four straight home victories, and six overall, the Portland Trail Blazers head east for their first extended road trip of the season starting Sunday night in Boston.

Portland (9-3) has started the season hot, thanks in large part to a flurry of home games, where they are 8-1. Boston (4-7), meanwhile, is just 2-4 at TD Garden, and find themselves 5.5 games behind Toronto in the Atlantic Division.

Both teams played Friday, with Portland blowing past a depleted Chicago squad, while Boston lost at Memphis. Portland seems to have found stability with its bench, the team’s weakness last season. Newly (re)-acquired Steve Blake, Chris Kaman and second year swingman Allen Crabbe have given the unit stability, to go along with the starting five that returned intact from last season.

INJURY REPORT

Portland: CJ McCollum (broken right index finger) is out.
Boston: Marcus Smart (left ankle sprain) is out. Vitor Faverani (left knee surgery) is out.

ENTER TO WIN

In Portland's Last Game...

The Trail Blazers shot out of the gates on an 18-3 run in the first 5:55 and never looked back, leading by as much as 28 in their 105-87 victory over the Chicago Bulls at the Moda Center ... Portland’s win pushes its win streak to six games, tied with Dallas for the longest active streak in the NBA ... Damian Lillard scored a team-high 24 points, marking the fifth consecutive game in which he has led Portland in scoring ... The Trail Blazers limited Chicago to a season-low 87 points, marking the fifth time this season that Portland has held the opposition to less than 90 points ... LaMarcus Aldridge scored 12 of his 16 points in the first quarter on 5-of-7 shooting and concluded the period with one fewer field goal than the entire Bulls team ... Port- land shot 9-of-16 from the perimeter, notching its best 3-point field goal percentage through 12 games this season (56.3%) ... The Trail Blazers are now 8-1 at the Moda Center, tied with Toronto for most home wins in the NBA ... Chicago forward Nikola Mirotic earned his first career double-double and notched career-highs in both points (24) and rebounds (11).

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