Boston’s Jayson Tatum grabs a rebound against Portland Trail Blazers forward Nassir Little during the second half Wednesday night in Boston. Charles Krupa/Associated Press
BOSTON — Jayson Tatum scored 30 points and made six 3-pointers, and the Boston Celtics beat the Portland Trail Blazers 115-93 to snap a three-game losing streak Wednesday night.
Tatum’s 36th game this season with 30 or more points helped the Celtics avoid their first four-game losing streak. Derrick White added 21 points and five assists. Al Horford finished with 17 points, six rebounds and assists.
The Celtics played without big man Robert Williams for the third straight game as he recovers from a strained left hamstring. But they got back Tatum and Horford, who sat out Monday’s overtime loss at Cleveland nursing a sore knee and back, respectively.
Both were active during an 18-7 second-quarter run that gave Boston a 53-35 cushion. The lead grew to 23 points (94-72) at the end of the third and as high as 27 the fourth.
Damian Lillard scored 27 points and had eight assists to lead the Blazers, who dropped to 14-20 on the road. Jerami Grant added 13 points.
Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic returned after a 14-game absence with a left calf strain. He’d been sidelined since Feb. 1. He started and had five points and six rebounds in 17 minutes.
Portland is 2-2 during its current six-game trip.
NOTES: Williams will travel with Boston to begin its six-game trip Saturday at Atlanta. Coach Joe Mazzulla said the hope is Williams will be able to return in the original 7 to 10 days that was projected after he was injured during the Celtics’ win over Brooklyn on March 3. … Payton Pritchard sat with left heel pain. … Horford knocked down two 3s in the first quarter to move past Isaiah Thomas (460) for ninth place on the franchise’s all-time list. With a layup in the first quarter, Marcus Smart became the 25th player in team history to score 6,000 points.
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