The season is heating up, and these teams are all too familiar with the significance of these games as time runs out. This will be game four of a six-game road trip for the Portland Trail Blazers (31-34, 32-32-1 ATS), and the Boston Celtics (45-21, 34-31-1 ATS) are the next obstacle. These teams haven't met since last January but will face off twice within the next 10 days. Round one is in Boston's TD Garden and is slated to start at 7:30 p.m. EST.
The Western Conference is a jumbled mess between the ninth and 13th spots, and Portland is in the thick of it at 10th. Right now, that's good enough for the final play-in spot, but I'm sure they'd prefer not to be in a four-way tie for it, with another team only half a game back. So, here they are on the road, where they've gone 14-19 this season, playing pressure-packed games in March. They've also been doing so without starting center Jusuf Nurkic who is out for this contest, while fellow starter Anfernee Simons is questionable.
With the way Damian Lillard is playing, they may survive until those guys return. Since the calendar flipped to 2023, he is averaging 36.1 points, 7.2 assists, and 5.1 rebounds per contest. In Monday night's win, Lillard finished with 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists, leading the team in every category for a triple-double. The Blazers got bullied on the glass, w ith a -14 differential, but also never trailed for the entire 48 minutes. Portland covered the spread in the win as well.
all i see is (Dame) DOLLA signs -rihanna probably
31 PTS | 12 AST | 13 REB pic.twitter.com/RVezypngEP
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) March 7, 2023
Led by Damian Lillard, Portland is sixth in adjusted offensive rating this season. Their effective field goal percentage as a team is 55.9%, which is ninth in the NBA. 41.7% of their shots are three-pointers, and they knock down 37.5%, the eighth-highest clip. The Blazers also hit 80.6% of their free throws, which is sixth in the league. Protecting the rock can be an issue at times, as they're 22nd in turnover percentage offensively.
If you're wondering how their offense is so dangerous, and they're only 31-34, you can point directly at their defensive rating this season which is 27th in the league. They don't allow many three-point attempts, ranking fifth in that category. However, nearly every other statistic has them in the bottom half of the NBA rankings.
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