Donovan Clingan Explains How Blazers Stunned Celtics on Sunday

The Portland Trail Blazers picked up a surprising 114-108 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday with a massive second-half adjustment from Tiago Splitter and Co.

As Donovan Clingan explained, daring the Celtics to beat them with anyone other than Jaylen Brown was a winning strategy.

“Be more aggressive, talk more, communicate. We were trapping Jaylen Brown in the second half, making him get off the ball and making the other guys make plays. And I feel like our aggressiveness and our closeouts, not letting shooters get off clean shots, I feel like that was a big part of it," Clingan said postgame.

Brown had 27 first-half points, but only 10 in the second half. Portland parlayed that into a 59-45 advantage to overcome a first half that Boston was seemingly in control of. Derrick White (12 points on 5/16 shooting) and Payton Pritchard (nine points on 3/10 shooting), the Celtics' usual secondary and tertiary scoring options, were contained by Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe, and Cidy Sissoko. The former three produced 70 points as well. Sissoko struggled from the field, missing all five of his shot opportunities, but he produced two steals, four rebounds, three assists, and a block.

Ultimately, the Blazers proved an important point with their upset win over a team favored by multiple possessions by most sportsbooks heading into the contest.

Blazers Got Good Side of Caleb Love's Hot-and-Cold Stretch Against Celtics

While Boston's bench outperformed Portland's, Caleb Love led all second-unit scorers with 18 points on 4/10 three-point shooting. Love showed why he doesn't have a bigger role with his five turnovers, but he also showed why he gets minutes with his microwave scoring.

With how strong the Blazers' starting lineup is, having someone who can fill up the cup off the pine like Love is vital. He's going to shoot himself out of some matchups, but having that reliability when the starters need a breather is how you prevent runs. Preventing runs regularly is how you win close games.

Love showed against Boston on Sunday that his volatile skillset could win games against great teams.