Trail Blazers at Celtics
The Boston Celtics stayed afloat early in the season by thriving on the road, but they've turned themselves into contenders in the Eastern Conference on the strength of a dominant stretch at home. The Celtics look to keep alive their string of success at TD Garden when they host the red-hot Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday.
Boston has won 11 in a row at home - its longest run in three years - and the streak has featured several gritty efforts, much like the one that resulted in a 100-95 triumph over Utah on Monday. "We've been doing a great job when it's crunch time of finding the right shot," forward Jae Crowder told reporters after scoring a game-high 22 points. "That takes lot of togetherness, and I think we've shown that. We gotta continue to show that to win games." The streak will be tested by the Blazers, whose 104-85 rout in New York on Tuesday was their third straight to begin a six-game trip and their 14th in 16 games. The team's remarkable turnaround from an 11-20 start has pushed it into a tie for sixth in the West.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CSN Northwest (Portland), CSN New England (Boston)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (33-28): Damian Lillard has hit the 30-point mark eight times in nine games and wasted little time announcing his presence in the win over the Knicks by scoring 24 in the opening half. Running mate C.J. McCollum took over from there with 21 second-half points as Portland topped the 100-point mark for the ninth straight time - its longest such run since Nov. 23-Dec. 30, 2013. Gerald Henderson had been providing some support for the Blazers' star duo but was held to six points - his second single-digit showing in a span of 13 games - on 2-of-8 shooting.
ABOUT THE CELTICS (36-25): Coach Brad Stevens and his players talk often of their desire to dominate on the defensive end, and it appears as if they've ended a recent slump in that regard. After giving up more than 100 points in eight straight games - easily the squad's longest streak of the season - the Celtics have limited the last two opponents to an average of 92.5 and a combined field-goal percentage of 39.4. Crowder is averaging 20.8 points on 57.7 percent shooting over the course of a four-game hot stretch.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Stevens and Portland coach Terry Stotts were named coaches of the month in their respective conferences for February.
2. Lillard has made all 45 of his foul shots in his last five contests.
3. Celtics reserve C Tyler Zeller has scored in double digits in two straight games for only the second time this season.