1. Late-February and early-March are the dog days of the NBA season. The All-Star break is behind us and the playoffs still seem like they are forever away. Teams just need to get through it. Against Portland on Tuesday, Boston had one of those games. They were facing a banged-up opponent, while missing a key player themselves with Kemba Walker still out. The Celtics got sloppy at a couple different periods, but eventually ground out a blowout win on the road. That’s a sign of a good team.
2. Jayson Tatum is out of his mind offensively right now.