That lead was enough to cushion the Celtics’ win no matter how haywire things got.
Allen finished with 18 points, knocking down 3 of his 6 3-pointers. Perkins had 10 points and 9 rebounds in 21 minutes, stretching the playing time coach Doc Rivers had originally prescribed, with Perkins playing just his second game since returning from ACL surgery.
Paul Pierce scored 17 points, keeping the Celtics afloat while the Blazers ran a fire drill in the first half, frustrating the Celtics into countless turnovers. Pierce left the game in the closing minutes and went to the locker room.
The first of a four-game road trip wasn’t exactly pretty. Perkins would grab a rebound, turn, and sling it up court for Rajon Rondo, not seeing LaMarcus Aldridge stretching his 6-foot-11-inch frame to swat it down.
Allen would wait on the wing for a feed from Rondo, then he’d bobble it slightly but just enough for Rudy Fernandez to grab it, and dart the other way to start a fast break.
The Celtics finished with 21 turnovers, and somehow won in spite of them all.
For the Celtics, everything was out of place. For the Blazers, it was organized chaos.
The teams combined for 20 first-half turnovers. Every shot seemed to bounce of the rim, and every rebound seemed to spark a fight (in the red corner Joel Przybilla, in the blue corner Kendrick Perkins).
Between technical fouls (Pierce) and the tension from a packed Rose Garden, the pace and atmosphere were frantic.
The Blazers resisted every Celtics’ attempt to restore order.
When Patty Mills’s 3-point attempt swirled around the rim, the Celtics stared instead of grabbing it. Dante Cunningham flew into the picture and tapped it in off the glass to give the Blazers a 24-23 lead.
It was the first bucket in an 11-4 burst for the Blazers. LaMarcus Aldridge was taking most of the shots and gobbling up the rebounds (11 in the first half), but Mills and Cunningham were the second-quarter catalysts.
With Garnett and Allen running cold (a combined 4 of 14 in the first half), Pierce was left to respond.
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