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The Boston Celtics (4-7, 2-4 home) host the Portland Trail Blazers (9-3, 1-2 away) on Sunday night at TD Garden (6 p.m., CSN). Here's what to watch for:
  • Blazers at a glance: Giving the usual glance at where the next opponent ranks in the top advanced metrics, Portland looks impressive. The Blazers rank third in offensive rating (108.7) and seventh in defensive rating (99.5), while ranking in the top 10 in total rebound rate (4th), assist ratio (8th), and true-shooting percentage (6th). The Blazers do an awful lot well -- and there's no glaring weaknesses to exploit. They're shooting 46 percent overall and nearly 40 percent beyond the 3-point arc. The Celtics will need their defensive A-game to compete.
• Coach's take: LaMarcus Aldridge is the focal point while averaging 21.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. But coach Brad Stevens heaped praise on the entire team. "[Aldridge is] not their only All-Star," said Stevens. "And they’ve got guys in [Wesley] Matthews and [Nick] Batum and [Steve] Blake that are great shooters as well. I think I heard a stat that Wesley Matthews has hit the fifth most 3s in the NBA last year. [Damian] Lillard is in the argument for the best shooter in the league just because of the percentage he shoots [47.6 percent overall and beyond the arc] and the difficulty of shots he hits. So I think that you’ve got great shooting, surrounding a very talented post guy, who can also shoot the ball. I think a guy that just complements everybody well is [Robin] Lopez, he probably doesn’t get enough attention, both on his offensive rebounding and on his post ability." • Aldridge altitude: ESPN the Magazine recently spotlighted Aldridge's shot technique. How does an undersized big like Jared Sullinger stop that? "You don’t really stop players, you try to stop their rhythm," said Sullinger. "There’s going to be times when he’s going to make shots, and we’re going to have to live with it. Just how tough of a shot is he going to make? Thats the biggest thing. As a basketball player, you know you’re not going to stop everybody you’re not going to hold them to zero points, but you try to make it as tough as possible for them to score." (Read full story)
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