BOSTON — Brad Stevens wasn’t hanging his head Sunday after his Celtics dropped their fifth game in six tries.
Because although Boston ultimately unraveled in a 94-88 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, its head coach saw something from his team that has been conspicuously absent this season: actual, real, NBA-quality defense.
For the better part of three quarters, the Celtics smothered the high-powered Blazers, who came into TD Garden ranked sixth in the NBA in scoring and had been held to fewer than 100 points in just three of their first 12 games. A 10-0 Portland run to open the fourth quarter ultimately was the Celtics’ downfall, but Stevens called the performance his team’s most encouraging yet.
“I don’t know that I’ve been as encouraging this (season),” Stevens said after the game. “I don’t feel the same, because I’ve felt like we were kind of hanging on to whether or not we made shots or how we played on the offensive end. And that wasn’t the case (Sunday), so that’s why I leave here encouraged. I think as we enter a five-day stretch before we play two more contenders, then we have something to build off of instead of just trying to believe we can do it without any real proof. So, (Sunday) is good proof for us.”
The key to Boston’s success early was shutting down Portland’s All-Star duo of Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge, both of whom came in averaging more than 20 points per game. A mix of stout defense and poor shooting on their part rendered Lillard and Aldridge nearly invisible in the first quarter, as they combined to go just 1-for-12 over the opening 12 minutes.
Aldridge eventually found his stroke — he notched a double-double and led all scorers with 20 points — but the Celtics largely held Lillard in check. The point guard finished with 12 points after scoring at least 20 in each of his last five outings.
Celtics guard Avery Bradley, who was matched up with the 24-year-old Weber State product for much of the evening, credited this success to the Celtics’ ability to stay in Lillard’s face and not allow him open looks.
“I thought we did a really good job on Lillard, or as good as you can,” Stevens said. “And I thought we challenged those guys’ shots for the most part.”
An added emphasis on defense also led Stevens to call upon veteran forward Gerald Wallace much earlier than usual. Wallace, who hadn’t left the bench in the Celtics’ previous four games, picked up two steals in 13 minutes and was the only Boston bench player to finish with a positive plus-minus rating (plus-1).
“I thought Gerald Wallace gave us a lift on the defensive end — that’s why he played,” Stevens said. “Because I wanted to see us flying around, and I wanted to see if there was a ball anywhere near the floor and we were near it, I wanted to see him go after it, because that’s what he does. And we needed some of that.”
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
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