Trail Blazers at Celtics
The struggling Boston Celtics are mired in a funk and will try to begin a turnaround when they host the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday. Boston has lost five of its last seven games, with Tuesday's 118-95 setback in Toronto representing the end of a winless three-game road trip.
Kyrie Irving had a miserable game for the Celtics, scoring only seven points, and coach Brad Stevens ripped his club following the lackluster effort against the Raptors. "I thought we were all over the place defensively. We're taking too many shortcuts,” Stevens told reporters. "We have to be a lot more connected as a team. That’s been a theme for a while." Portland has reeled off four straight victories and led by 23 points at halftime before letting Cleveland back in the game before finishing strong in Monday's 123-110 road win. "We've been through a lot," Trail Blazers shooting guard CJ McCollum told reporters. "We've been in some great wins and some terrible losses, so you know how to win games down the stretch. We know what we need to do on the offensive and defensive end to give ourselves a chance."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, NBCS Northwest (Portland), NBCS Boston
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (37-23): McCollum made 7-of-8 3-point attempts while scoring 35 points against Cleveland to record his 12th 30-point effort of the season. "CJ carried us on the offensive end," point guard Damian Lillard told reporters. "We tried to just keep that rolling because it seemed like he was making every shot. When a scorer gets in that rhythm, it's important not to cool him off." Lillard contributed 21 points after making just 10-of-31 shots in his first two games following the All-Star break.
ABOUT THE CELTICS (37-24): Irving has been increasingly frustrated in recent weeks, and his response to a question about how to fix the defensive issues was a brief one - "That's up to Brad," he said of the coach. The Raptors were 17-for-36 from 3-point range and built a 21-point halftime advantage as Boston allowed at least 109 points for the sixth time in seven games. Marcus Morris was the high scorer with 17 points in a game in which the Celtics were just 6-for-30 from beyond the arc.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Trail Blazers C Jusuf Nurkic recorded 18 points and 17 rebounds as the team registered a 100-94 home triumph over the Celtics on Nov. 11.
2. Boston SF Gordon Hayward is averaging just seven points on 4-of-14 shooting over his last two games.
3. Portland swingman Evan Turner (knee) will miss his third straight contest.