COMMENTARY
The Boston Celtics held off the Portland Trail Blazers down the stretch, pulling out a 116-115 victory as their road trip continues.
Here’s what happened.
The big picture
In similar fashion to their win over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, the Celtics held serve early against Portland’s stars and rallied behind Jayson Tatum’s huge third quarter to take a lead. Tatum continued to shine in the fourth quarter, and the Celtics held off the Blazers in the final minutes. Leading by one, Marcus Smart intentionally missed a free throw at the end of the game and the Celtics forced Damian Lillard into a full-court heave at the buzzer to claim their second straight on the road trip.