Blazed: Portland 92, Boston 86

The Blazers (26-30) made all the big plays that the Celtics (29-27) just simply weren't able to make, as they snap their seven-game losing streak and defeat the Celtics, 92-86.

Portland was aided by Wesley Matthews, whose 24 points were a game-high. Matthews, along with the other four Portland starters, finished in double figures.

The Celtics stayed in the game, but could not make any game-winning plays down the stretch.

Here's a recap:

The good:

* After three days off, Kevin Garnett looked rejuvenated. He finished with a near double-double of 20 points and 9 rebounds on 9-of-19 from the field in 32 minutes.

* On Friday, coach Doc Rivers told Chris Wilcox he needed to step his game up. Since then, Wilcox has responded. In the two games since Doc's comments, Wilcox is averaging 8.0 points and 5.0 rebounds. Tonight, he was very active in limited minutes. In the first quarter, Wilcox created two extra possessions on offense, ran the floor for an alley-oop and even stole the ball.

* Courtney Lee continues to improve. His aggressiveness has really stood out over the past few games. Lee only took 5 shots tonight, but they were 5 good shots. 2 of them were inside the paint, which means the other 3 came outside the paint. In the past, Lee would force some shots in order to get himself out of his prolonged slump. Now, he's making better decisions, and it's paying off.

* Paul Pierce took over in the third quarter. He scored 7 points on 3-of-5 from the field, keeping Boston in the game when points were hard to come by. For the game, Pierce flirted with a triple-double of 23 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists.

The bad:

* Boston's field goal drought came at the wrong time. They went 5:05 without a field goal during the middle of the fourth quarter. Only one of Boston's shots during that stretch came inside the paint. They settled for low-percentage shots instead of trying to make things happen.

* Ball movement was an issue in the first half. The Celtics only had 6 assists on 17 baskets in the first half. Although these passes did not lead to turnovers, they were not very productive. The Celtics were over-passing, leading to bad shots and contributing to them shooting 38% from the floor in the first 24 minutes.


The Celtics will try to close out their road trip on a high note tomorrow night against the Utah Jazz. Tipoff is set for 9:00 p.m.