The Portland Trail Blazers open up a three-game east coast road trip Monday night in snowy Boston, where they’ll face a Celtics team that has been one of the NBA’s biggest success stories this season.
Both teams will be looking to bounce back from tough losses. The Blazers (23-23) are fresh off of a 110-98 home loss to the Toronto Raptors on Friday night when they managed only 12 points in the first quarter. They fought back to make the game competitive, but fell short of the 100-point mark for just the sixth time this season.
The Celtics (28-17) return home after Saturday night’s heart-breaking loss in Chicago, where Kevin Huerter secured a 114-111 Bulls win with a game-winning three-pointer with just 0.2 seconds remaining.
The Celtics and Blazers met less than a month ago in Portland, with the Blazers earning a hard-fought 114-108 victory thanks to a series of uncharacteristic late turnovers by the Celtics. Let’s take a look at tonight’s rematch.
The Celtics Report
With Jayson Tatum originally expected to miss the entire 2025-2026 season after rupturing his Achilles in last season’s playoffs, expectations for the Celtics were low. They parted ways with several key contributors from their 2024 NBA Championship team, trading Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, and letting Al Horford leave as a free agent.
Former NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown remained, along with Olympic Gold Medalist Derrick White and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard, so they weren’t completely bereft of talent. But second place in the Eastern Conference in late January? Not what NBA pundits expected.
After a middling 5-7 start, the Celtics have actually been one of the best teams in the league. They have the top-ranked offense (121.2 points per 100 possessions) in the NBA and the third best net rating (+7.2 points per 100 possessions), trailing only the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder and the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons.
The Blazers Report
The Blazers come into the game as one of the league’s hottest teams. They are 9-3 in 2026 and have the seventh-ranked offense (116.5 points per 100 possessions) and ninth-ranked defense (111.5 points allowed per 100 possessions) over that stretch.
Veterans Holiday and Jerami Grant have returned to the lineup after lengthy injury absences. Their availability is a welcome development for Coach Tiago Splitter and the Blazers as they look to take some pressure off of Deni Avdija, who has been in and out of the lineup over the past two weeks with a lower back strain.
What you need to Know
Portland Trail Blazers (23-23) at Boston Celtics (28-17) – Mon. Jan. 26th – 5:00pm Pacific
How to stream: Peacock
How to listen: Rip City Radio 620AM
Trail Blazers Injuries: Scoot Henderson, Damian Lillard, Matisse Thybulle, Blake Wesley, Duop Reath, Kris Murray (Out); Deni Avdija, Robert Williams III (Questionable).
Celtics Injuries: Jayson Tatum (Out); Josh Minott, Neemias Queta (Questionable).
Celtics SB Nation Affiliate: CelticsBlog
What to Watch For:
Threes and More Threes. These two teams have some things in common. Both give their players the green light to shoot three-pointers at every opportunity. The Celtics attempt the second-most threes (42.7 per game) in the league, with the Blazers right behind at third-most (41.7).
The Celtics convert at a much higher rate, though. They make 36.9% of their three-pointers, good for eighth in the NBA. The Blazers still rank last at just 33.8%.
Can the Blazers make enough threes to beat the Celtics for a second time? Or perhaps more importantly, can they defend the three-point line well enough to keep Payton Pritchard, Anfernee Simons and Sam Hauser contained?
In the December 28th matchup, Boston made just 13-44 (29.5%) from behind the arc. If the Blazers can duplicate that defensive performance and make those shots difficult, they’ll have a chance.
Turnovers. While the two teams are similar in their approach to three-point attempts, there are a number of areas where they differ. Most notably, the Celtics average the fewest turnovers (12 per game) in the NBA, while the Blazers turn the ball over more than any other team, averaging 16.8.
The Blazers took advantage of 19 Celtics turnovers (their second-most all season) in the first meeting, including three critical ones in the closing minutes. The Blazers probably don’t need to force that many turnovers again, but they do need to keep the turnover margin close if they want to leave Boston with a win.
Free Throws. Both teams try to drive into the paint, but the Celtics favor kick-out passes to open shooters, while the Blazers are more likely to initiate contact and draw fouls. As a result, the Celtics shoot the fewest free throws (19 per game), while the Blazers shoot the fourth-most (26.5 per game).
If the Blazers allow more threes or lose the turnover battle, they may need a big free throw disparity to keep the game close.
Anferno. Simons scored 13 points on 4-11 shooting in his return to Portland on December 28th. At the time, he was scoring 12.8 points per game on 36.8% shooting from behind the arc. That’s a respectable percentage, but below his 38.2% career average.
Since that game, he’s getting more opportunities and making the most of them. He made seven threes in a 39-point outburst against the Heat on January 15th and is averaging 16.4 points while shooting 44.5% on 7.9 three-point attempts per night over his past 14 games.
Will Simons stay hot and torch his former team? Or can the Blazers’ long-armed, physical defenders keep him in check?
What Others are Saying:
Trevor Hass from SB Nation affiliate CelticsBlog recently ran through 10 reasons the Celtics have exceeded expectations. Number one? The play of Jaylen Brown, who scored 37 points against the Blazers in their last meeting. Hass writes:
I think we can all officially stop debating whether or not Jaylen Brown is capable of thriving as the No. 1 option on a contender. I thought Brown would embrace this role and excel in it, but I didn’t expect this level of pure domination.
Brown has upped his scoring (22.2 to 29.8), rebounding (5.8 to 6.7) and assists (4.5 to 4.8) per game from last year, while also improving his efficiency (46.3 to 48, 32.4 to 36.4, 76.4 to 79.1). He’s taking over games, leading by example and making life easier for everyone around him.
