Season Sweep?
Portland, OR – Maybe the Portland Trail Blazers should be happy the Boston Celtics aren’t bringing a losing streak into the Rose Garden.
As emphatically as they halted that skid, the Celtics would like to end their western road swing in equally convincing fashion Tuesday and complete a fourth consecutive season sweep of the Blazers.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made the Celtics –3.5 point spread favorites for Tuesday’s game against the Blazers. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that 71% of more than 107 bets for this game have been placed on the Celtics –3.5.
Boston opened 27-2 to record the best start in NBA history, but doubled its loss total on the first half of this road trip – its longest of the season thus far and its first to the West Coast. A franchise-record 19-game winning streak ended on Christmas with a 92-83 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, and the following night saw the Celtics (28-4) fall 99-89 to a Golden State team which entered with an 8-22 record.
The first losing streak of their season would go no further. Boston equaled the sixth-most lopsided win in team history by routing Sacramento 108-63 on Sunday.
"It wasn’t like we’re a team that’s going to panic," Paul Pierce said. "We just tried to regroup. We just executed back on the court and just did some of the things we’ve been doing all year long, trying to get a win and play better basketball."
Boston outrebounded its opponent for a 14th straight game, but the margin was 53-31 on Sunday after it was just nine in the first two games of the trip combined. The Celtics limited the Kings to 27.9 percent from the field, their best such performance since holding Philadelphia to 27.0 percent on March 28, 2004.
Portland (19-12) is very aware just how good the Celtics are defensively. The Blazers’ second-lowest point total of the season came at Boston in a 93-78 loss on Dec. 5. The Celtics had a 41-31 edge on the boards.
They forced Greg Oden into a rough night, limiting last year’s No. 1 overall draft pick to six points and six boards as he fouled out in 18 minutes.
"I think he’s just raw right now," Pierce said after that meeting. "He’s going to get better. He has a great upside if he just keeps working. … His only way is up."
Oden showed his upside Saturday, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds in a 102-98 victory over Toronto. The 7-footer, who has nine double-doubles, had averaged 6.0 points and 4.4 boards in his previous five games, often battling foul trouble.
"I told Greg, ‘unwrap yourself, take the cover off and let people know who you are,’" coach Nate McMillan said. "Tonight he just went out and played and had fun with it."
Saturday’s win improved the Blazers to 5-5 since the loss to Boston, which ended their six-game winning streak.
Ray Allen has averaged 24.3 points in three matchups with Portland since joining the Celtics last season, and each one has been a double-digit victory. The Celtics have won seven straight versus the Blazers since losing in Portland on Dec. 9, 2004.
Allen scored 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting with only one turnover Tuesday after averaging 10.5 points and shooting 8-of-20 with seven turnovers during the back-to-back losses.
Starting backcourt mate Rajon Rondo has averaged just 7.0 points on the road trip, though he does have 27 assists.
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Posted: 12/30/08 2:07AM ET