PORTLAND, Ore. -- Most NBA coaches would be glad to see the last of the Portland Trail Blazers this season, but not Boston Celtics Coach Chris Ford.
'I would love to have a situation in which we play Portland again this year,' Ford said Sunday night after the Celtics earned a split of their season series with Portland, pulling out a 111-109 overtime victory. 'That would mean we'd both be in the finals. I would love it to happen.'
The Blazers were coming off a seven-day break, but the rest did not help them turn their recent troubles around. It was Portland's fifth loss in its last six games and second straight setback at home. The one Blazers' victory was a 116-107 win last Sunday at Boston Garden.
'We wanted to prove we could win a game on the road against a team the caliber of Portland,' Ford said. 'This had nothing to do with last week -- no kind of revenge. It was just a chance to show ourselves that we could beat a great team in their building.'
With Boston's victory, the Celtics, Blazers and the Chicago Bulls are all in a virtual dead heat for the league's best record. The Bulls are 44-15 while Boston is 46-16 and Portland is 45-15.
Larry Bird led the way for Boston Sunday with 27 points, but reserve guard Dee Brown may have been the key for the Celtics in overtime.
Brown played excellent defense against Terry Porter and hit two free throws with 16.6 seconds left that put Boston ahead 110-107, and in effect, provided the winning margin for the Celtics.
Brown made only four of 13 field goal attempts and scored only 10 points, but added 11 assists to lead all players in that category.
'Dee Brown played an outstanding game,' Ford said. 'His defense on Porter in the overtime was magnificent.'
The defensive play of the game came when Brown forced a jump ball with Porter with 20 seconds left in overtime and Boston ahead 108-107. The Celtics controlled the tap and Brown added his decisive free throws moments later.
When asked about the play, Brown said, 'I played Terry a bit to the right and he came there. I thought he was trying to get the ball to Clyde. I just reached out and grabbed it.'
After Brown's two free throws, Portland's Danny Ainge closed the gap to one at 110-109 with a pair of free throws with 6.8 seconds left. And Portland was still in it when Reggie Lewis hit only of two free throws a second later to put Boston up 111-109.
Portland had a chance to send the game into a second overtime but Clyde Drexler missed a 20-footer from the top of the key with one second remaining.
'We got the ball in Clyde's hands but we didn't get the shot we wanted,' said Portland coach Rick Adelman.
Drexler and Jerome Kersey shared scoring honors for the Blazes with 25 points each. Kevin Duckworth added 22 for Portland.
The key play in overtime for Portland may have come at the 3:25 mark when Kersey was whistled for a personal foul against Bird and then was assessed a technical for protesting too strongly. At the time Portland led 103-102. But Bird converted all three free throws to give the Celtics a 105-103 lead.
The Blazers managed their last lead of the game when Kersey scored on a layup to make it 107-106.
'We didn't execute offensively when we needed to,' Adelman said. 'That was the difference in this game. You've got to win the close games against the good teams.'
