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Boston's defense shuts down Portland in 96-76 win

Feb 20, 2010 - 7:12 AM By TIM BOOTH AP Sports Writer

PORTLAND, Ore.(AP) -- If this is the way Ray Allen is going to start shooting, then Doc Rivers wants a lot of speculation swirling around his sharpshooter.

Even if that means the Boston coach needs to make up rumors.

"Ray is going to get traded tomorrow," Rivers cracked. "We're going to keep saying it so he can keep playing well."

Allen scored 21 points, including eight straight early in the fourth quarter to stymie a run by Portland, and the Celtics completed a difficult West Coast two-step beating the Trail Blazers 96-76 on Friday night.

Kevin Garnett scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half, helping the Celtics on the second night of a difficult back-to-back. After holding off the Lakers 87-86 Thursday night in Los Angeles, the Celtics easily dispatched a rested Portland team and handed the Blazers their worst loss of the season.

So much for the Celtics looking old - at least for a few days.

"People can call us old, call us whatever," Rivers said. "We're just going to keep trying to get better."

Garnett and his frontcourt mates dominated the interior in the first half, as Boston built an 18-point halftime lead. When Portland made its charge in the fourth quarter, Allen knocked down a pair of key 3s to keep the lead in double figures.

It was the fourth time in his last seven games that Allen has topped 20 points after reaching that mark just four time in all of January.

"He's just playing well. He's relaxed ... he was making shots and it was good for us," Rivers said.

Andre Miller led the Blazers with 16 points, but the debut of Marcus Camby in Portland was a dud. Camby made his first shot, then missed his next four. He finished with two points and seven rebounds in 29 minutes.

All-Star Brandon Roy played 34 minutes in just his second game since Jan. 20. Roy made three of eight shots and finished with nine points, but struggled to get open looks and appeared distracted by his gimpy leg.

How frustrating was it for Roy? In one of his swiftest moves of the night, Roy sprinted baseline to gather a rebound and dunk, only to be called for having his heel on the baseline. Roy said the lack of game action in the last month has him struggling to find a rhythm again.

"I'm still trying got find my way with this team and get back to where I was," Roy said.

The entire night was a measure in offensive futility for the Blazers. The 76 points were a season-low and Portland's seven assists matched a franchise low. It was the worst home loss for Portland since April 2007.

"Tonight was like having two new guys in the lineup with Marcus and bringing Brandon back," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "We need to work on trying to get a rhythm and rotation to fit this team."

For how flat the Blazers were for three quarters they pulled within nine on Rudy Fernandez's three-point play to open the fourth. But Fernandez was called for charging on consecutive possessions - both drawn by Glen Davis and both negating made baskets - and two Allen 3-pointers quickly pushed the lead back to 15.

The short-handed Celtics thought they might have even fewer bodies before the game when a sprained right thumb started acting up on Paul Pierce. He played and added nine points, and the Celtics got 33 points from their bench while still waiting for the arrival of Nate Robinson.

Acquired in a trade with the Knicks, Robinson will remain on the East Coast while recovering from the flu before joining his new team.

"Those guys really controlled the game and pretty much pushed the lead," Pierce said of the bench. "They closed the game and allowed us to rest and that's big especially on a long road trip."

With Camby's long arms now roaming the middle, the Blazers were expected to get a defensive boost out of the trade that should help solidify a middle decimated by injuries this season. But Boston scored 32 points in the paint in the first half, shot 73 percent in the first quarter and faced little resistance getting shots near the rim.

While Portland's defense was porous, the Celtics' defense was suffocating, especially in the second quarter. Portland managed just three made baskets in the quarter. All three came from LaMarcus Aldridge, but the first wasn't until there was 5:15 left in the half, an emphatic dunk over Garnett and Kendrick Perkins. Portland's 13 points in the second quarter matched a season low.

NOTES: Rivers is expecting Robinson to make his debut Tuesday night when the Celtics return home to face the Knicks. ... One fan in Seattle SuperSonics gear sat at midcourt behind the Blazers bench and flashed a Sonics flag for television cameras on nearly every possession. ... Rondo was called for a technical foul in the third quarter after getting flattened by an Aldridge screen in the backcourt and threw his mouthpiece at the Celtics' bench near an official.