Celtics' Defense Ready For Challenge Of Slowing Blazers' Damian Lillard
BOSTON (CBS) -- If the Celtics want to win their 12th straight in front of their hometown fans, they'll have to shut down on the NBA's best scorers.
No, Steph Curry is not walking through the doors Wednesday night. But a gentlemen that some refer to as "Steph Light" will look to light up the TD Garden scoreboard when the Portland Trail Blazers come to town.
The Celtics play host to Damian Lillard and the 33-28 Blazers on Wednesday night. The Blazers are red hot, winners of 13 of their last 15, and Lillard is lighting the world on fire with 30 or more points in eight of his last nine games. That includes a 30 points showing in a win over the Knicks on Tuesday, with Lillard scoring Portland's final 16 points of the first half. He did so in less than three minutes.
By halftime Lillard had 24 points and the Blazers enjoyed an eight-point lead, en route to a 104-85 win.
Lillard's 25.4 points per game this season are good for fifth in the NBA, and he scores in many different ways. The guard can create his own shot, and do so off the dribble if needed, or use pick-and-rolls to create open space. And that guy he's considered the "light" version of? Lillard got the best of Curry and the Warriors just two weeks ago, putting in 51 points in a 137-105 Blazers win. His 51 points were nearly as much as Curry and his splash brother Klay Thompson, who combined for 53 points in the loss.
When Lillard isn't scoring (or has done his scoring for the evening, like Tuesday) he's getting his teammates involved, averaging seven helpers per game. The beneficiary of all the defensive attention put on Lillard is guard CJ McCollum, the Robin to Lillard's Batman, who is no slouch either, averaging 20.9 points this season.
When Lillard became a second half facilitator on Tuesday, McCollum scored 21 of his 25 points.
Despite all of that offensive production, Lillard was not an All-Star this season. That oversight by the league is bad news to the 31 other teams in the NBA, as it's put another chip on his shoulder.
That all means the Celtics defense, prone to lapses as of late, will have a very busy night ahead of them. But as always, they're up to the challenge another dynamic scorer (and his sidekick) will present them with on Wednesday night.
"That's what I play basketball for," said guard Avery Bradley. "Every single night I want to go up against the best players; I'm looking forward to [going against Lillard].
"He's a very good player and we know that going into the game," added Bradley. "Not only him but McCollum as well – they're very good shooters. We have to make everything hard on them the whole night, and not let the other guys beat us."
Bradley said the Celtics will focus on getting Lillard off the three-point line, where he's shooting 37 percent for the season. Tuesday night in New York, he hit four of his nine shots from downtown.
Isaiah Thomas, who makes scoring look easy but is not necessarily known for his defense, said (with a smile) he won't sacrifice his output on one end of the floor for the other against Lillard. But he knows it will take a full team effort to slow down Portland's offensively gifted guards.
"I'm going to continue to be myself on both ends of the floor. We have guys who can defend both of those guys, and as a team we're a pretty good defensive group," he said. "We'll focus on them, but they're a talented basketball team so you have to focus on everyone. But it starts with those two."
Thomas knows a thing or two about getting snubbed, and perhaps no one has a bigger chip on their shoulder than the 5-foot-9 Celtics guard. He feels for Lillard and knows that All-Star snub will just add more fuel to his fire.
"He was definitely an All-Star, but stuff happens. He's probably been disappointed by a few things, not just in his NBA career but not getting recruited to a bigger school (Lillard went to Weber State). He's a hell of a player and knows he's an All-Star," said Thomas. "The league knows they messed up in that. He's been playing well and proving people wrong."
The Celtics haven't always been a kind opponent to Lillard, who is averaging 14.2 points (his lowest against any opponent) in six career games against Boston. But given his recent tear through opponents, those those old stats will mean very little come tip off Wednesday night.
Slowing Lillard is one of those challenges the Celtics defense has coveted this season, and one they certainly aren't going to back down from. That alone is well worth the price of admission Wednesday night.
Tune in to Celtics-Blazers on 98.5 The Sports Hub -- the flagship station of the Boston Celtics. Pregame coverage begins with Sean Grande and Cedric Maxwell at 7pm!
