Trail Blazers at Celtics
The Boston Celtics are making their way through a homestand without Kyrie Irving, as Terry Rozier has made the All-Star guard's absence a virtual non-factor. Rozier looks to stay hot when the Celtics put a three-game winning streak on the line against the visiting Portland Trail Blazers in a Sunday matinee.
Rozier stepped into the starting lineup for Irving (quad) to record his first career triple-double in a 30-point rout of the New York Knicks on Wednesday and followed it up with a career-high 31 points in Friday's 119-110 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. "Both (starts had) just the same feeling," Rozier told reporters. "Just wanting to come out aggressive, do what I can on the offensive and defensive end. My teammates made it so easy for me because they play so hard. We just play hard collectively as a group." The Trail Blazers saw their four-game winning streak end with a thud in a 130-105 loss at Toronto on Friday. Damian Lillard became the seventh Portland player to score 10,000 points with the franchise but his team never recovered after falling behind by 19 points after one quarter.
TV: Noon ET, NBCS Northwest (Portland), NBCS Boston
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (29-23): Portland will need to tighten up its perimeter defense after allowing the Raptors to make 19 3-pointers - a season high for a Blazers' opponent - and going up against the Celtics, who are tied for fourth in the NBA with 11.7 long-range makes per game. "The 3-point line was a huge factor tonight," coach Terry Stotts told the media in Toronto. CJ McCollum followed up a 50-point performance against Chicago in which he scored 28 in the opening quarter by putting up 21 versus Toronto, all from the second quarter on.
ABOUT THE CELTICS (38-15): Jayson Tatum may have hit a bit of a rookie wall in January with numbers down across the board, but the 19-year-old seemingly turned things around this week by averaging 20.7 points on 55.3 percent shooting in three games. The 27-point performance versus Atlanta is a personal best for Tatum and the four steals he recorded ties his season high. Irving is considered day-to-day, according to coach Brad Stevens, while forward Marcus Morris (hip) told reporters he will be questionable to play Sunday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Portland scored over 100 points in 17 straight games.
2. The Celtics reportedly signed C Greg Monroe, who had agreed to a contract buyout with Phoenix.
3. The road team won both meetings last season, with McCollum scoring 35 points and Portland taking a 127-123 overtime victory at Boston on Jan. 21, 2017.