The game itself was far from pretty but the end result was beautiful last night at the TD Garden as the Celtics (32-27 overall, 19-11 home) easily dispatched of the weary Suns (42-17 overall, 19-8 away) 99-86. Phoenix entered having won in overtime at Milwaukee (36-22) on Monday and at Philadelphia (39-20) on Wednesday, so you can understand why they didn't have much energy left by the time they reached the Garden parquet. For what it's worth, Boston was missing three of their best players: shooting guard Jaylen Brown (left shoulder bursitis), center Robert Williams (left knee soreness) and swingman Evan Fournier (health and safety protocol) all missed the rematch between the C's and the Suns. The Celtics were also coming off of one of the worst losses of their season 102-96 to the Bulls (25-34) on Monday so this was a great bounceback victory which gives them wins in seven out of their last eight contests.
The Suns are fighting for a top seed in the Western Conference though so they respectfully had all their best players in the lineup: point guard Chris Paul (22 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals), shooting guard Devin Booker (15 points, 5 turnovers before he fouled out), small forward Mikal Bridges (15 points) and center Deandre Ayton (10 points, 9 rebounds) all played their normal minutes. Boston was led by point guard Kemba Walker who tied his season-high with 32 points. Swingman Jayson Tatum (15 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 turnovers) had another ugly shooting performance (3-for-17) but at least he's getting to the free throw line way more than earlier this season and converting them (8-of-8). Guard Marcus Smart added 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists while center Tristan Thompson (9 points, 12 rebounds) missed out on a double-double by one measly point. Rookie guard Payton Pritchard (10 points) continued his late season reemergence in 21 valuable minutes off the bench.
The C's smartly jumped on the Suns right away as they led 26-21 after the first quarter and they were up by as many as 21 points in the second quarter before settling into a 53-37 halftime advantage. Phoenix pushed back in the third quarter (28-24) but with Booker out, there would be no comeback in the fourth quarter as Boston edged them 22-21. Neither team shot well but the Celtics did hit twice as many 3-pointers (12-6) as the Suns, they also made 13 more free throws (21-8) and grabbed 10 more rebounds (48-38). For a team that has struggled so much defensively all season, it was refreshing to see the Celts hold an elite opponent to 40.9% shooting from the field and 17.1% on 3-pointers (which has to be a season-best).
The middle of the Eastern Conference playoff race is a complete mess so this win allowed Boston to keep pace with fifth-place Atlanta (32-27) and remain a half game behind the fourth-place Knicks (33-27) along with one game ahead of seventh-place Miami (31-28). After three blowout losses to the Nets (39-20 overall, 23-7 home) earlier this season, tonight (7:30, NBC Sports Boston) at the Barclays Center is the last chance for the Celtics to finally beat Brooklyn before they could potentially see them again in the postseason. Kevin Durant (leg) and James Harden (hamstring) are both out, leaving only Kyrie Irving from the Nets' Big Three so even though it's in a back-to-back, this feels like the best time for the C's to come out on top. Brooklyn is 5-5 in their last 10 games due to all the changes in their lineup but they remain in a dead heat with the Sixers for the top spot in the East. This game means so much to both teams therefore it should be a good one.
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