Champion marksmen: Celtics rain down 23 threes, outgun play-in contender Blazers

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Jayson Tatum and Sam Hauser combine for 54 points as the Boston Celtics take turns decimating the Portland Trail Blazers with their feared three-point barrage

Jayson Tatum scored 30 points as the Boston Celtics defeated the host Portland Trail Blazers 129-116 on Sunday night (Monday, March 24, Manila time).

Tatum scored 24 of those points after halftime, and narrowly missed his third triple-double of the season, finishing with nine rebounds and nine assists.

Sam Hauser racked up 24 points on 8 of 10 3-pointers, while Derrick White added 17 points, including going 4 of 10 from deep. In a rare starting role, Payton Pritchard scored 16 points, including 4 of 9 from long range.

Boston (52-19) shot 54.5 percent from the floor, including 23 of 50 (46 percent) from 3-point range.

Shaedon Sharpe scored 23 points to lead Portland (32-40). Toumani Camara contributed 19 points, and Deni Avdija posted 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Kristaps Porzingis (illness) joined Jaylen Brown (knee) on the sideline, but the Celtics still notched their fifth straight victory while snapping Portland’s four-game winning streak.

Boston set the tone early by hitting 7 of 15 from 3-point territory in the first quarter.

Hauser and Baylor Scheierman led the perimeter charge as the Celtics, after six lead changes, finished the period on a 9-1 run to lead 34-24.

Tatum was held scoreless in the second quarter, and Anfernee Simons, who missed one game due to illness, returned to the Portland lineup and scored 11 points in the quarter for the Trail Blazers, but they couldn’t prevent Boston’s lead from growing to 64-51 at the half.

Portland knocked down 13 of 20 shots in the third quarter, including 6 of 11 from beyond the arc, and outscored the Celtics 39-38. After falling behind three times by 18 points, Portland fought back to close the gap to 89-82 on a 3-pointer by Duop Reath with just over three minutes left in the period.

But the Blazers had no answer for Tatum, who scored 18 points in the period and, with support from Pritchard, who hit 3 of 5 treys, saw Boston’s cushion expand to 102-90.

Portland kept pace with Boston in the fourth and slowed the Celtics’ flurry of 3-pointers, but the Trail Blazers never got closer than 11 points. – Rappler.com