The Portland Trail Blazers welcomed center Jusuf Nurkic back to the starting lineup Wednesday night at Boston after a 14-game absence with a calf injury that saw the team’s defense dip to hideous levels.
But although Nurkic provided the Blazers with much-needed size and a defensive presence in the middle, his return wasn’t nearly enough to propel the Blazers past the Celtics, one of the NBA’s best.
The Celtics fans demonstrated great appreciation for Damian Lillard during pregame introductions and following a couple of made threes in the first quarter. But they never had to worry about Lillard carrying the Blazers to a victory in this one.
The Celtics led virtually then entire game at the TD Garden while putting together a 115-93 victory that demonstrated the chasm between these two franchises.
The Celtics were superior in every facet of the game while building a 94-72 lead through three quarters. Damian Lillard scored 27 points through but did not play in the fourth. He shot 7 of 16 from the field while connecting on just 2 of 8 three-point attempts with both makes coming early in the first quarter.
The rest of the Blazers shot 16 of 45 (35.5%) from the field offering Lillard little support. Meanwhile, Boston forward Jayson Tatum scored 30 points through three quarters on 11-of-17 shooting and made 6 of 10 threes. He also did not play in the fourth quarter. Five other Celtics scored in double figures.
Nurkic, on a minutes restriction, saw 17 minutes of action and didn’t look very sharp in his first game since Feb. 1. He scored five points on 2-of-6 shooting but did grab six rebounds.
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) drives to the basket against Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant (9) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, March 8, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) APAP
WHAT IT MEANS
While the Blazers (31-35) winning at the Celtics (46-21) was a long shot, the loss means that the Blazers have still not defeated a winning team since taking down Golden State on Feb. 8.
NEXT UP
The Blazers play at 4 p.m. Friday at the Philadelphia 76ers (43-22).
— Aaron Fentress reported from Boston.
— Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook). Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts
