The Portland Trail Blazers ran into a legitimate championship contending Boston Celtics team at home on Wednesday, and the Celtics defended home court with a 115-93 win.
The Blazers dropped to a staggering 14-20 on the road and 31-35 overall, quickly descending from the No. 10 seed that they had a brief hold on for mere hours. Damian Lillard finished with 27 points — the only Blazer to cross the 20-point threshold — on 7-16 shooting from the field and 2-8 shooting from three-point range in 30 minutes of action. The game was effectively over with over nine minutes to go in regulation, and none of Lillard’s teammates provided sufficient support to make it a close one.