The Portland Trail Blazers will look to rediscover their mojo when they take on the Boston Celtics at the Moda Center this afternoon in a Sunday matinee.
The shorthanded Blazers are in danger of registering
their fourth straight loss — all at home — as the Celtics come to town. Between this game and a matchup with the Dallas Mavericks tomorrow night, Portland has two more chances to avoid going winless on this current five-game homestand.
On the other side of the momentum spectrum, the Celtics enter this game winners of four straight. Even with superstar Jayson Tatum out with a torn Achilles and the departures of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis this offseason, Boston has adapted to hold the third-best record in the Eastern Conference at 19-11. Powered by a great early season from Jaylen Brown and a 3-pointer-heavy offense, Boston has become one of the best success stories in the NBA this season.
What you Need to Know
Portland Trail Blazers (12-19) vs. Boston Celtics (19-11) – Sun. Dec. 28 – 3:00pm Pacific
Where to watch via antenna or cable: See your options on the Rip City Television Network
Where to stream: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; League Pass everywhere else.
Where to listen: Trail Blazers Audio Network
Trail Blazers injuries: Scoot Henderson, Jrue Holiday, Damian Lillard, Matisse Thybulle, Blake Wesley, Jerami Grant, Robert Williams, Javonte Cooke (Out)
Celtics injuries: Jayson Tatum, Chris Boucher (Out)
What to Watch For
Anfernee Simons’ Return. Former Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons will play his first game at the Moda Center today while not representing the home team. The sweet-shooting guard played seven seasons in Portland before he was traded to Boston this summer in exchange for Jrue Holiday. After playing over 30 minutes per game and carrying a significant offensive burden during the previous two seasons with the Blazers, Simons has been given a much smaller role in his new digs. He now comes off the bench for 23.7 minutes a night to provide supplemental offensive firepower.
In 30 games off the bench in Boston, Simons has averaged 12.8 points, 2.3 assists and 2.1 rebounds while shooting 36.8% on 3s. He’s scored over 20 points in four games. We’ll see if he can unleash the “Anferno” in his first return to the Moda.
Yang Time. As a means of precaution, Blazers backup center Robert Williams III is sitting this game out so he can play in tomorrow’s game against Dallas. That means the Moda Center should be in line for some Yang Hansen time. The 7-foot-2 rookie from China managed to put together some decent, albeit limited, minutes in his last outing. Against the Orlando Magic on Dec. 23, Yang registered four points, two assists, two rebounds, a block and a steal in eight minutes. There’s a good chance he’ll get even more opportunity against Boston. Let’s see if he can show some more promise.
The modern game. The Celtics take the third most 3-pointers per game this season among NBA teams. They make the second most. And they shoot the eighth best percentage from downtown. Meanwhile, the Blazers attempt the sixth most 3s while shooting the league’s second worst percentage. If the Blazers have any chance of pulling off an upset against Boston, they’ll have to keep the 3-point shooting margin from getting out of hand. So either Portland will need to have an uncharacteristically hot game, or the Celtics will have to be uncharacteristically cold.
What Others Are Saying
Gio Rivera of CelticsBlog writes about how Jaylen Brown is chasing Celtics history right now with a wicked hot streak during the month of December.
For the eighth straight night, Brown scored 30 points, placing him second only to Larry Bird (in 1985) for the most consecutive 30-point games in Celtics history. He went 13-of-20 from the field against the Pacers, adding three rebounds, four assists, and four steals to surpass Paul Pierce (7) and kept the fire burning in his red-hot run to close out the calendar year. If Brown can pull off two more, the four-time All-Star will stand alone in Celtics history, marking the biggest leap of his career at one of Boston’s most critical moments.
It’s also allowed Brown to stand out among everyone in the league this month.
Brown, while chasing Bird’s record, has averaged 32.1 points in December, leading the NBA in scoring during that stretch. He scored 42 points against the No. 2 seed Knicks, 34 versus the conference-leading Pistons, and 30 in a 20-point come-from-behind win over the Pacers, keeping the Celtics just two games back of New York and 4½ behind Detroit.
