Celtics at Blazers final score: LaMarcus Aldridge leads Portland to 112-104 win over Boston
By Brad Rowland
This just in. LaMarcus Aldridge is very good at basketball.
Portland’s All-Star power forward scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in leading a balanced Blazers attack to a 112-104 win over the Boston Celtics on Saturday night, and if anything, it was a “ho hum” effort. It says a lot about the current state of Aldridge’s game to say that a 21-point, 13-rebound effort is run-of-the-mill, but he was tremendous in this game, even leading the team in on-court rating at a +12 over 38 minutes.
Of course, Aldridge needed a lot of help to get to 112 points in a regulation game, and there was plenty to go around. The Blazers had seven players score in double-digits, and in addition to LaMarcus, the rest of the starters all scored 15-or-more points. Robin Lopez had the best overall stat line with 15 points and 13 rebounds, but Wes Matthews added 18 points and Nic Batum put up 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists in support.
On the Boston side, the Celtics were actually leading this game at the half, but simply couldn’t sustain enough offense after the break. Avery Bradley, normally a defensive stopper, led the C’s in scoring with 25 points, and former 1st-rounder Jared Sullinger put up a double-double off the bench with 14 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes. In the end, though, the lack of 3-point shooting (4 for 14) hurt Boston in keeping up with Portland on the road, and that was that.
The Blazers are now 28-9 and 15-4 in the Rose Garden, and with each passing day, they look to be worthy of their current, lofty place in the Western Conference standings.