Lillard and Tatum clash in Portland-Boston matchup

Thu, Mar 16, 2023
NBA News (AP)

Boston Celtics (48-22, second in the Eastern Conference) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (31-38, 13th in the Western Conference)

Portland, Oregon; Friday, 10 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Damian Lillard and Jayson Tatum meet when Portland hosts Boston. Lillard ranks third in the NBA averaging 32.3 points per game and Tatum is sixth in the league averaging 30.1 points per game.

The Trail Blazers have gone 17-16 at home. Portland has a 16-22 record against teams over .500.

The Celtics are 22-13 in road games. Boston has a 5-6 record in games decided by less than 4 points.

The teams square off for the second time this season. The Celtics won the last matchup 115-93 on March 9. Tatum scored 30 points to help lead the Celtics to the victory.

TOP PERFORMERS: Lillard is averaging 32.3 points and 7.3 assists for the Trail Blazers. Jerami Grant is averaging 16.9 points over the last 10 games for Portland.

Derrick White is scoring 12.0 points per game and averaging 3.4 rebounds for the Celtics. Jaylen Brown is averaging 25.1 points and 5.6 rebounds over the last 10 games for Boston.

LAST 10 GAMES: Trail Blazers: 3-7, averaging 111.8 points, 39.6 rebounds, 23.1 assists, 7.6 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 45.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 119.5 points per game.

Celtics: 5-5, averaging 113.1 points, 44.3 rebounds, 24.6 assists, 6.6 steals and 5.2 blocks per game while shooting 46.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 112.4 points.

INJURIES: Trail Blazers: Justise Winslow: out (ankle), Ibou Badji: out (knee), Jerami Grant: day to day (quad).

Celtics: Payton Pritchard: out (heel), Robert Williams III: out (hamstring), Danilo Gallinari: out (knee).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.