BOSTON — After the Boston Celtics were mired in a slump – including blowing three double-digit leads – they shook off those struggles Wednesday night in blowing out the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Celtics were so comfortable in a 115-93 win at TD Garden that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown didn’t play in the fourth quarter.
There were positives that came from the blowout victory as the Celtics improved to 46-21. But Brown said postgame that he thought the Celtics still didn’t play with enough urgency. He recently sounded off after a loss to Cleveland, saying that they need to be fighting to win.
“I think we still didn’t have the sense of urgency that I think we need to show,” Brown said. “But I think that we’re taking steps in the right direction. I think that during the season, a long season, there’s a bunch of ups and downs, and I think we’re working our way up. I think that’s the most important thing, that we found a way to get a win. But I think we need a little bit more urgency.”
The Celtics took care of business as they pulled away from the Blazers in the second quarter. There were even moments where the Celtics responded well, including late in the third quarter. The Blazers had cut their deficit to 13, but the Celtics finished the quarter on an 11-2 run.
Despite that success, Brown said “we kind of rolled into things” where the Celtics didn’t necessarily take the initiative. But still, coming away with the victory was the most important factor.
“Portland did us a lot of favors tonight,” Brown said. “If they would’ve been ready to play, we should’ve been ready to match the intensity there. I think we kind of played down a little bit. But it’s the NBA. We found a way to win, so there’s nothing to complain about. So we gotta be ready for the next one.”
Importantly, the Celtics fixed their vibes ahead of a long six-game trip. They won’t play a home game for more than two weeks. The opponents aren’t necessarily tough all the way through, but the Celtics are still in the running for the No. 1 seed in the East, and they need to stack up victories after their recent tough stretch.
“We gotta be better in spots,” Brown said. “Starts at the top, it starts with me and Jayson, where we gotta do better. We gotta set the tone. Tonight, we found a way to win. But definitely wasn’t a tone being set, we gotta be better. We can’t expect how we played tonight and think we’re going to play well on this road trip. We gotta throw the first punch. I’m excited to get our team ready for these upcoming games.”
THE ACQUISITION of Mike Muscala at the trade deadline put Blake Griffin on the back burner among Boston’s rotation of bigs coming out of the All-Star break.
He was a DNP-CD in five of Boston’s first six games after the break before getting the start in Cleveland on Monday night, with Al Horford sat on the second night of back-to-back games.
Griffin didn’t do anything special in that outing on paper (four points, four rebounds, two assists in 18 minutes), but Coach Joe Mazzulla saw enough to go back to him over Grant Williams, Muscala and Luke Kornet in Boston’s blowout win over the Blazers on Wednesday night.
Griffin was scoreless in his 18 minutes but packed the box score in other ways with six rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals to go along with a plus-15. The veteran forward was the only big who played off the bench, a shift from Mazzulla’s rotation choices since Rob Williams went down with a hamstring injury.
“Blake just is a professional,” Mazzulla said. “He brings a lot of experience. I think he helps us force turnovers with his hand activity, his ability to take charges and his overall communication. I think he does a great job on the offensive end of screening and getting the ball where it needs to get to. As we come down the stretch, it’s important to rely on his experience. He’s been such a professional and he’s someone we are going to need.”
While Mazzulla has a wealth of options at his disposal on his big man depth chart, his choices for playing time have been a bit of a revolving door for the past few weeks. Griffin, who has mostly played only when the team is short-handed or on back-to-backs with a healthy roster, suddenly found himself as a top option. Meanwhile, Grant Williams was on the bench against Portland until garbage time in the fourth quarter.
Matchups may have been part of the equation, but Williams taking a seat yet again after an ugly finish to his night in Cleveland was telling.
Mazzulla said he isn’t worried about building Williams’ confidence back up. He’s simply trying to find who helps teammates the most amid a losing streak.
“He does a good job of self-regulating,” Mazzulla said of Williams. “He does a good job of working through things. And just time. He’ll be fine.”
Griffin, despite his defensive limitations, has been a spark plug at various points this season and played his role well on Wednesday night. The fact that Mazzulla is turning to him at this point of the year, though, could be an indictment on his bench teammates just as much as it’s a credit to Griffin’s play.
“I feel each of the bigs do something different,” Derrick White said after Wednesday’ win. “Blake’s a little different from Mike, and Blake’s a little different from Luke, so they each bring a different aspect to the game, and every time they’re out there, we’re confident in them, and they’ve been doing a great job for us all year.”
Whether mixing and matching is the right option for this group entering the postseason remains to be seen, but Griffin has emerged as a surprise wild card over the undersized Williams amid his latest struggles. That’s a scenario few would have envisioned even weeks ago.
JAYLEN BROWN has played in seven games in his black face mask since the All-Star break, which he needs because he suffered a facial contusion from a Jayson Tatum elbow. Fans have come to enjoy the look of the mask, as it adds another element to how Brown plays on the court.
But Brown admitted he’s “tired” of the protective gear.
“I know it looks cool, but sometimes it’s hard to breathe,” Brown said. “It kind of limits your vision at times depending on the lighting and depth perception. But y’all don’t want to hear none of that, that’s something like excuses and stuff. Come out each and every night and make it happen.”
Brown got his facial contusion in a win over the Sixers on Feb. 25, which forced him to sit the next four games ahead of the break. Brown initially debuted the mask in the All-Star Game, where he had a fun back-and-forth with Tatum.
But there’s still no timetable on when he’ll be able to take it off. Brown said his cheek still isn’t completely healed.
Brown’s numbers have dipped a tad since the break, but not too much. He’s averaging 25.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists over his last seven games.
“I’m having like headaches, been going from the last couple weeks, just from the pressure and whatnot,” Brown said. “But I’m trending in the right direction, so that’s all that matters.”
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