Boston is back in the win column.
After dropping a heartbreaker in Utah to start off a West Coast road trip, the Celtics have now won three of their last four games thanks to a 145-117 result over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday.
The Celtics improve to 13-11 on the season, while the Blazers drop to 11-13.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Things aren’t going great in Portland right now, but we don’t have to get into the Damian Lillard situation. With that, Boston used it as an opportunity to pull off a betting upset and give the young guys some run. That led to some interesting lineups, to say the least. One of which invited the Blazers to go off a 23-6 rally in the second that demolished their lead.
Jayson Tatum and Dennis Schröder each had 30-point games, and some large lineups kept Portland at bay without Jaylen Brown and Al Horford in the starting lineup. Shooting their highest 3-point percentage of the season (56.8%) certainly helped the C’s, but take it with a grain of salt against Portland.
STARS OF THE GAME
— Another double-double for Tatum. He had 31 points, 10 boards (all defensive) and four assists to lead the Celtics to victory yet again. He’s been on fire.
— Schröder was pretty productive himself, finishing with 31 points, four rebounds, eight assists and a steal. Only one turnover tonight, too.
— Marcus Smart had a huge impact before getting into some foul trouble, adding 17 points, two rebounds, and four assists. Despite four turnovers, he had a plus-minus of +9, making up for every mistake and then some with his physicality and a few and-1s. We had a Smart-Rob Williams lob, too.
— Honorable mention? We’ll let Payton Pritchard have this moment in front of his hometown crowd.
WAGER WATCH
Entering the contest, oddsmakers gave Smart -105 odds to get over 12.5 points, via DraftKings Sportsbook. Without Brown and Horford, though, it ended up being a decent value bet. Smart supporters would have had to leverage $110 to win $100 with him putting up 17.
Furthermore, Boston was +100 as the underdog against Portland. Talk about value.
UP NEXT
The Celtics don’t play again until Tuesday when they visit allowing the Los Angeles Lakers.
Tip off from the Staples Center is at 10 p.m. ET.
