The Boston Celtics held off the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday for their fifth consecutive win -- their 13th straight at TD Garden.
Boston's hot shooting was the difference in its 124-107 victory as it was a scorching 56.3 percent from the floor, including 16-for-38 (42.1 percent) from 3-point range. Portland dominated in the offensive rebounding department (22-5) but couldn't keep up offensively, shooting just 39.2 percent.
Jaylen Brown returned to the Celtics lineup after missing Friday's win over Sacramento. With Jayson Tatum (knee) out, he led the way with 26 points. Payton Pritchard stayed hot with 20 points in 25 minutes.
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Ex-Celtic Dalano Banton led the Blazers with 28 points off the bench. Deandre Ayton chipped in 22.
The Celtics (62-16) have four games left on their regular-season schedule. They'll visit the second-place Milwaukee Bucks (47-30) on Tuesday.
First, here are three takeaways from Sunday's game.
A memorable night for Jaylen Brown
Brown returned to the Celtics' lineup in style. After missing Friday's win over Sacramento, he propelled the Tatum-less C's to victory with a game-high 26 points on an efficient 10-of-17 shooting (3-5 3-PT).
In the third quarter, Brown tallied his 17th point of the game to become the 15th Celtics player ever to reach 10,000 career points. He fittingly accomplished the feat with a left-handed layup.
You can watch the historic highlight below:
Brown has dealt with a hand issue since Wednesday, but it appears to be a non-factor. That's great news for a C's team that will need Brown to continue to play the way he has since the All-Star break when the playoffs begin.
Hot shooting outweighs poor rebounding
With six players scoring in double figures and a sizzling 56.3 percent shooting from the field, the final score should have been even more lopsided. Boston could have dominated throughout had it not been for its poor offensive rebounding.
The Blazers had a 22-5 advantage on the offensive glass, resulting in 21 second-chance points to the Celtics' seven. They dominated Boston on the boards, 53-40.
Sixteen of Portland's offensive rebounds came in the first half, its highest total in any half this season and the most allowed by the C's in any half this year.
It took a dominant shooting performance to overshadow those rebounding woes. Along with Brown, Pritchard helped the C's pull away with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Sam Hauser bounced back from his woeful 1-18 performance with a 4-of-6 night from the field (2-4 3-PT). Jrue Holiday hit five of his eight shots.
Old friend Dalano Banton shines in return to Garden
Banton began the season with the Celtics but was traded to the Blazers for a top-55 protected 2027 second-round pick. While this wasn't quite a "revenge game" due to the final result, it was an impressive performance by the 24-year-old guard.
Banton got off to a fast start with 15 first-half points. He continued to make an impact off the Blazers bench in the final two frames, finishing with a game-high 28 points on 11-of-23 shooting (3-9 3-PT). He made more 3-pointers in this game than he did in 24 games with the Celtics this season (two).
C's head coach Joe Mazzulla heaped praise on Banton prior to the matchup.
“He was here and did a great job," Mazzulla said. "He’s getting much more of an opportunity there and he’s taking advantage of that. Just a credit to his work ethic and I’m happy for him.”
Banton added nine assists, three rebounds, and a steal to the stat sheet against his former team. He's averaging 16.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 27 games for Portland.
During Sunday's game, Banton was recognized on the TD Garden Jumbotron alongside fellow ex-Celtics Robert Williams and Malcolm Brogdon.
