When the Boston Celtics play the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night, they hope to make history by being the first club to have 50 wins this season.

With their 117-107 victory over the Phoenix Suns on the road on Saturday night, Boston snapped their second two-game losing streak of the season.

Before a rough period that featured defeats to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the reigning champion Denver Nuggets to begin a five-game road trip, the Celtics rolled through 11 straight wins.

Jayson Tatum, a talented forward for Boston, said the victory in Phoenix was badly needed.

“We’re not flawless. We truly do attempt to be that,” Tatum remarked. “Yet we are fallible. It’s a competitive league with excellent players on the other clubs. It all depends on how you react.

“You want to be a special team, you’ve got to do a good job responding.”

Thirteen of Tatum’s thirty-nine points came in the fourth quarter against the Suns.

Tatum wasn’t thrilled with his entire performance. Despite his five 3-pointers, ten rebounds, and seven assists, he only shot 11 of 28 from the field and had four turnovers.

“I’ve finally stopped turning the ball over,” Tatum declared following the game. “I’m thankful I got some great teammates because I stunk it up.”

For Boston, Luke Kornet (14 points on 6-of-7 shooting) and Payton Pritchard (10 points) both had strong bench performances. Jaylen Brown added 27 points.

Regarding the backup pair, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla remarked, “They were amazing, they were tremendous.” “I thought Payton changed the game with his defence.”

Due to a hamstring injury, Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis was unable to play on Saturday.

In their last eight encounters with Portland, the Celtics have prevailed six times. This is the clubs’ first meeting of the year; on April 7, they will play again in Boston.

After defeating the Toronto Raptors 128-118 in overtime on Saturday to snap a nine-game home losing streak, the Trail Blazers head into Monday on a high note. After defeating the Milwaukee Bucks on January 31 to sabotage Damian Lillard’s homecoming, Portland had not triumphed at home since.

After missing five games because of a hand injury, Deandre Ayton made his comeback against Toronto, where he led the team in scoring with a season-high thirty points and grabbing 19 rebounds.

For the Trail Blazers, Ayton is “just a game-changer,” according to coach Chauncey Billups. He grabbed all the rebounds and manned the paint. He was grabbing it if it entered his territory. And it was significant that he was able to score on his own.

“He relieves our guards of a great deal of tension. To simply be able to hurl it up (to Ayton) whenever you’re in trouble anywhere is a privilege.”

Scoot Henderson, a rookie who had 13 points and five assists, was also back in the starting lineup. His adductor injury caused him to miss eight games.

Just one game after scoring a career-high thirty points against the Houston Rockets, Delano Banton scored twenty-five points against Toronto. For the third time in the previous six games, Portland triumphed behind 23 points from Anfernee Simons.

Before the Raptors mounted a late comeback to force overtime, the Trail Blazers had a lead of up to 21 points. However, Portland defeated Toronto 13-1 to start the extra session.

“We were confined,” Ayton remarked. “We had the mentality that this game would be ours. We only needed to get back and somewhat slow down their offensive output because our defense was strong enough to guard them in the half-court set. Just to be sure we were on the same page, please don’t give them any more belongings. That’s how you win basketball.”

Due to a hamstring injury, Portland forward Jerami Grant has missed the last two games.