The Cleveland Cavaliers draw many of the headlines in the Eastern Conference, but the Boston Celtics proved why they are also contenders during a 120-111 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night.Boston came into the Moda Center Thursday without Jae Crowder or Avery Bradley but made the critical plays down the stretch in the inter-conference showdown. It moved to 34-19 and a mere 2.5 games behind Cleveland thanks to an 8-1 stretch, while the Trail Blazers fell to 23-31.Boston's Isaiah Thomas won the battle of guards with Portland's Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum and finished with 34 points, 15 of which came in the fourth. His clutch performance came as no surprise considering he leads the league in fourth-quarter scoring, per NBA.com.It wasn't all Thomas, as Jaylen Brown's free throws and Marcus Smart's hustle with an offensive putback, steal and drawn charge helped turn a narrow 106-104 lead with less than three minutes left into a comfortable nine-point win.The Celtics found themselves behind by 17 points in the first half, but play-by-play announcer Sean Grande noted the comeback was business as usual:Boston coach Brad StevensannouncedCrowder missed the contest to be with his family, while Bradley is still dealing with an Achilles injury. It needed a balanced attack in response, and that is what it got with seven players scoring in double figures.Thomas had the 34 points thanks in part to 10 free throws, while he was just 2-of-11 from deep, and Smart stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals. The Celtics also forced 15 Portland turnovers with stifling defense and committed just eight on the other end.Lillard (28 points) and McCollum (20 points) were solid for the Trail Blazers, but they were a combined 2-of-13 from three-point range. Al-Farouq Aminu (26) and Allen Crabbe (12) were the only other Portland players to score in double figures.The Blazers were also short-handed andannouncedEvan Turner will miss five to six weeks with a fractured bone in his hand.Despite the loss, Portland capitalized on Boston's depleted backcourt early and took a 32-22 lead into the second quarter with strong perimeter defense. Crowder (41.5 percent) and Bradley (40.9 percent) were Boston's top three-point shooters coming into play Thursday, and the Celtics shot a mere 2-of-8 from deep without them in the opening 12 minutes.Kevin Pelton of ESPN explained, "The Blazers have put the bigger Maurice Harkless on Isaiah Thomas and the Celtics haven't taken advantage of the resulting mismatches."The 5'9" Thomas made only one field goal in the first and struggled to shoot over the 6'9" Harkless, as the Trail Blazers captured:Portland flashed some offense to go along with the defense and pushed its advantage to 43-28 in the second with a 10-0 run. It also continued to frustrate Thomas, who picked up a technical foul for contacting Meyers Leonard with his elbow.However, the technical sparked the All-Star, and he scored 14 points in the second quarter. His three-pointer capped a 13-2 Boston run to end the half, which trimmed the deficit from 53-36 to 55-49.The NBA shared some of Thomas' impressive second-quarter:Boston picked up right where it left off in the second half and seized a 59-57 lead with Horford's turnaround jumper. The extended 23-4 run gave Boston its first advantage since the early stages.The Trail Blazers struggled with turnover problems throughout portions of the third as the game settled into a back-and-forth. What's more, it got little offensively for long stretches from anyone but the two guards and Aminu.Brown's corner three gave the Celtics a one-point lead heading to the fourth, and Michael Pina of Bleacher Report found a silver lining to Boston's injuries:With momentum on his team's side, Mr. Fourth Quarter wasted little time using his hesitation moves to get inside the lane and take over the offense, as Pelton noted:Thomas also got some help when Gerald Green was cleared for takeoff:Portland had its own fourth-quarter answer, and it wasn't automatically Lillard every trip down. Instead, Aminu carried the home team's late offense, and CSN Northwest said he "cannot be stopped" when he scored his 10th point of the quarter.Aminu kept the Trail Blazers within striking distance, but he could only counter Thomas and a balanced attack for so long. The Celtics took over in the final three minutes, thanks in large part to Smart's balanced play. Jay King of MassLive.com said, "Marcus Smart just made one huge play after another. My goodness what a stretch."Alongside Thomas' offense, it was enough to clinch the road victory for the surging Celtics. Postgame ReactionPortland head coach Terry Stotts said, per CSN Northwest: "We didn't make enough winning plays at the end."Stotts discussed Aminu's showing, per CSN Northwest: "This was his best offensive game of the year. He did a bit of everything tonight. Was happy to see him get on track."Lillard was asked if his team is as hungry as it was last season and said, per CSN Northwest: "Yea...I think it's different now. Teams come here (to Portland) on edge now."Stevens commented on the victory, per the Celtics: "That was a heck of a win, especially considering we were without Jae and Avery."Brown talked about Smart's impact on the game, per the Celtics: "He changes the game every time he gets on the floor. He just does wonders for this team."What's Next'The Celtics finish their four-game road trip against the Utah Jazz on Saturday and Dallas Mavericks on Monday before six straight games against Eastern Conference foes. They are the No. 2 seed in the East and will have a chance to create more separation in the upcoming stretch.Next up for the Blazers is a home contest against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday before a four-game road trip. They entered Thursday's contest one-half game behind the Denver Nuggets for the West's No. 8 seed and are trying to establish some momentum heading into the All-Star break.
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