Field Level Media
Aug 27, 2012
Damian Lillard scored 33 points and Maurice Harkless added 17 as the Portland Trail Blazers continued to cruise through their East Coast road trip with a 97-92 victory Wednesday against the Boston Celtics.
Jusuf Nurkic added 16 points as the Trail Blazers improved to 4-0 on their seven-game trip. It was their fifth consecutive victory overall and it came one day after eight Portland players were trapped in an elevator for 30 minutes while at practice at nearby Emerson College.
Kyrie Irving scored 31 points for the Celtics, who lost for the fourth consecutive time, all since the All-Star break. The Celtics went 5-6 in February. Irving's scoring outburst came after he scored just seven points in a loss at Toronto on Tuesday.
After a first half that was short on offense, the Trail Blazers took a 43-42 lead into the break. Portland's four first-half assists was its lowest for any one half this season. The Celtics went 0-for-8 from 3-point range in the second quarter and 2 of 13 in the half.
The Trail Blazers started to distance themselves in the third quarter, outscoring the Celtics 31-22 to take a 74-64 lead. Lillard, the NBA's leading scorer in the third quarter, had 15 points in the period.
The Celtics cut the deficit to 76-74 on a Jaylen Brown floating jumper just over three minutes into the final quarter. Portland had three turnovers in the run after not committing a turnover in the third quarter.
Holding an 87-81 lead with just under four minutes to play, the Trail Blazers scored the next six points and held off the Celtics from there.
Jayson Tatum had 14 points, while Al Horford and Marcus Smart added 13 points each as the Celtics still have not won since defeating the Detroit Pistons at home 118-110 on Feb. 13. Jaylen Brown had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Boston.
CJ McCollum scored 14 points for the Trail Blazers, who went 6-3 in February and will now head to Toronto on their long trip. Harkless added 10 rebounds.
The Trail Blazers won't play at home again until March 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. They last played at home on Feb. 13 when their current win streak started against the Golden State Warriors.
--Field Level Media