Jayson Tatum could not have been capable of take the court docket, however on Wednesday night time in opposition to the Phoenix Suns, the Boston Celtics proved themselves greater than able to caring for enterprise with out their celebrity ahead. Regardless of a robust efficiency from Kevin Durant (30 factors, 11-of-16 capturing), the Celtics had no downside dispatching their Western Convention foes on the street tonight, selecting up a 132-102 win.
Surprisingly questionable to play in tonight’s matchup regardless of a bad-looking ankle roll suffered in opposition to the Sacramento Kings, Tatum was in the end dominated out of tonight’s contest with a sprain. In his absence, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis took care of enterprise. Brown supplied a spark as Boston’s prime offensive possibility, scoring 24 factors, whereas Porzingis led the staff with 30 factors on a hyper-efficient 10-of-15 capturing. Devin Booker was Phoenix’s second-leading scorer with 14 factors (4-of-13 capturing).
Protection, to place it kindly, was elective within the first quarter of this recreation. The Celtics scorched the nets from the opening moments, connecting on a whopping 10 threes within the first 12 minutes. However someway, regardless of their offensive cohesion, they struggled to construct a major benefit over the Suns. No small consider that was Durant, who went nuclear within the opening quarter. He scored 16 factors, placing on a classic show in shot-making, and even with a 42-point begin to the sport, the Celtics entered the second quarter main by simply 4, 42-38.
The Celtics continued to cook dinner offensively within the second quarter, however Phoenix didn’t show as much as the duty of maintaining tempo. The second quarter yielded “solely” 4 Boston triples, however the decreased output in long-range capturing was simply counterbalanced by a low-impact from Durant. After scoring 16 factors within the first quarter, the Suns’ star ahead recorded simply 4 within the second, along with his first factors of the body not coming till there have been lower than two minutes to play within the half. Phoenix managed simply 16 factors in complete within the second quarter, and the Celtics entered the halftime break having damaged the sport open, main 73-54.
With Tatum sidelined, it was Brown who stepped into the highlight this night. He was assured and assertive from the opening minutes and paced the Celtics in scoring all through, and that pattern continued because the second half started. Tasked with stopping the Suns from getting again into the sport, Brown threw down a highlight-reel dunk and cashed in on a 3 (his fourth of the night time) to maintain the Celtics a step forward.
Three-pointers helped inform the story of tonight’s shellacking. The Celtics’ lead eclipsed the 30-point mark within the third quarter, they usually did it behind a mixture of environment friendly capturing (18-of-42 from deep by three) and Phoenix’s incapability to hit a shot. Even after connecting on a couple of triples late within the third quarter, the Suns recorded an abysmal 9-of-32 mark on their three-point makes an attempt. The disparity guided the Celtics to a commanding 108-81 lead coming into the ultimate quarter.
There was no drama to be discovered within the fourth quarter tonight. Derrick White, Jrue Vacation and Al Horford had been the one Boston starters to take the court docket within the body, and their stints had been short-lived — plus, maybe extra tellingly, Durant didn’t see a single minute. The Celtics recorded their thirtieth street win of the season, whereas the Suns suffered one more loss.
Subsequent up, the Celtics’ will proceed onto their fifth of six consecutive street video games, touring to San Antonio for a matchup with the Spurs at 8 PM on NBA TV.
