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Key Moment
Usually a team will seal a win with a basket. Friday night in Portland, however, the Celtics sealed their win over the Trail Blazers with an offensive rebound.
Leading by two and coming out of a timeout with 10.7 seconds left on the game clock and six seconds left on the shot clock, Boston needed to get a quick shot up. It got what it wanted, with Jayson Tatum attempting a fadeaway jumper along the baseline, but the basket didn’t fall.
Tatum would have sealed the win had he made the shot with 6.9 seconds left. However, it bricked off of the rim and high into the air.
And Al Horford went up and got it.
Horford, who sealed Boston’s first win over Portland this season with a buzzer-beating jumper, crashed in from the right wing and rose high into the air to grab the offensive rebound with six seconds left. He kicked the ball out from the baseline, and Portland was forced to foul Terry Rozier with 3.2 seconds left in the game.
Rozier made both free throws to officially end Portland’s shot at a win, but they would have never arrived without that rebound from Horford. The big man is now 2-for-2 this season in putting the Trail Blazers away.
Key Player
Marcus Morris didn’t do a whole lot statistically Friday night other than score, but that’s just fine with the Celtics.
Morris finished Friday’s 105-100 win with a game-high 30 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field. He made five of his six 3-point attempts and all seven of his free throws to reach the 30-point barrier.
We can’t forget to mention that Morris’ final basket of the night just so happened to account for the game-winning points. Morris canned a 3-pointer from the left wing with 54.8 seconds left to give Boston a 101-96 lead, and the third point of that basket stood as the game-winning point.
Outside of the scoring column, Morris added in two rebounds. He also provided strong and versatile defense throughout the game against a talented offensive team led by Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.
Box Score Nuggets
- Marcus Morris scored a game-high 30 points.
- Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum led Portland with 26 points apiece.
- Portland made five more field goals than Boston (40-35) but still lost by five points.
- Boston made three more 3-pointers (11-8) than Portland, and doubled the Trail Blazers up in made free throws (24-12).
- Greg Monroe came off of Boston's bench to log a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
- Shane Larkin led the Celtics with seven assists.
- Portland outscored Boston 58-32 in the paint.
- Jayson Tatum stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
- Monroe and Al Horford each blocked two shots.
- Al-Farouq Aminu tallied a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and he also grabbed a game-high five steals.
Quote of the Night
Al Horford on Boston's win in Portland.