Trail Blazers Earn 127-123 Overtime Win Over Celtics
BOSTON -- The Portland Trail Blazers ended a four-game losing streak and rode star guard Damian Lillard to a 127-123 victory over the Boston Celtics in overtime on Saturday night.
Lillard, who had three points at halftime, scored 25 points after the break, seven of them in overtime, as the Trail Blazers (19-27) handed the Celtics their second straight home loss.
Portland won despite 41 points by Boston's Isaiah Thomas, including 21 in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Lillard, who also had seven assists, scored six points late in overtime and then scored on a jumper, an old-fashioned three-point play and two free throws in OT. He iced the game with foul shots with 1.9 seconds remaining.
CJ McCollum, Lillard's running mate in the backcourt, scored 26 of his 35 points in the first half.
With the Celtics down three and 10.8 seconds left in regulation, Boston called a timeout and Terry Rozier then drilled home a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 8.2 seconds remaining.
After a Portland timeout, Lillard went one-on-one with Marcus Smart and missed a jumper as time expired.
Meyers Leonard scored a season-high 17 points and Al-Farouq Aminu had 13 points and seven rebounds, both off the Portland bench. Mason Plumlee had 10 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
The Celtics, playing without injured Avery Bradley, got 17 points apiece from Al Horford (nine rebounds, five assists) and Marcus Smart, 16 from Jae Crowder (13 in the first half), 15 from Terry Rozier and 10 points and eight rebounds from Kelly Olynyk.
Boston outrebounded Portland 47-37, and it was the first time all season the Celtics lost when outrebounding the opposition (12-1).
The Celtics, who turned the ball over 21 times, led by eight early but by only two at the end of the first quarter.
The home team was then down by three and went on a 20-8 run to end the half, leading by nine at the break. Thomas had 15 points in the quarter and the Celtics made 13 of 18 shots from the field.
But the Blazers used two 11-0 runs in a 32-point third quarter as Lillard, who had only three in the first half, scored nine points and was 4 of 7 from the floor.
The Blazers, who trailed by as many as 11 points, took a five-point lead with 4:49 left, but Thomas then caught fire and Boston led by two with 2:23 remaining.
NOTES: Celtics G Avery Bradley was out for the sixth time in the last seven games with a sore Achilles. Coach Brad Stevens said he expects Bradley to miss a week. The Celtics were also missing F Jonas Jerebko (illness) but G James Young was back from an ankle sprain. ... The Blazers were without F Ed Davis (wrist). ... Portland G/F Evan Turner, who spent the last two seasons with the Celtics, was back for his first visit. Talking about Stevens, he said, "He definitely gave myself and a lot of guys in that locker room, he kind of helped their career and re-energized it." ... Portland came in sporting two Massachusetts players, F Noah Vonleh (Haverhill) and G Pat Connaughton (Arlington). ... The Blazers open a five-game homestand against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. The Celtics are at Washington on Tuesday. The last time the teams played, on Jan. 11, the game ended with a disagreement on the floor that had five police officers standing in the hallway between the locker rooms. ... Boston G Isaiah Thomas received an NBA Assist award before the game.
