With Phoenix locked in a positioning battle with Brooklyn (therefore affecting the Celtics/Nets’ chances in the draft lottery), some fans thought it might be better long-term for Boston to lose the opener of their five-game road trip. They almost got their wish as the Celtics came close to blowing Saturday’s game after leading the Suns by as many as 21 points.
But the Celts did beat the Suns, 102-99, for their fourth straight win. Isaiah Thomas was again the leader, with a game-high 28 points and key baskets to keep Phoenix from taking the lead in the fourth quarter. The key play, however, was a blocked shot by Evan Turner when the Cs were clinging to a two-point lead in the final seconds.
From the beginning, it looked like this would be a laugher for Boston. IT led with nine in the quarter as the Celtics built a 35-22 lead. Avery Bradley was in the starting five after almost not making the trip due to illness, yet he played with his usual high energy early. AB scored eight points in the first quarter, as did Kelly Olynyk (two triples and a dazzling spin move off the dribble for a layup).
The game had a schoolyard quality as 12 of the Suns’ 26 shots in the first quarter were from behind the arc. They also showed little interest in playing defense, allowing the Cs to penetrate at will (18 points in the paint). Meanwhile, the Celts shot 11-25 and had 18 rebounds in the quarter.
The Suns improved their shooting (8-15) in the second quarter, but committed eight more turnovers. Boston’s lead peaked at 55-34 before they went the last 3:11 without a field goal. Still, the Cs went to intermission was a 58-41 advantage. Evan Turner had nine points in the period and a game-high 15 at halftime. AB had 13 and KO 10 in the half, while no Sun was yet in double figures.
Early in the third, the Celts rebuilt the lead to 20 points, then promptly let down, allowing a 19-6 run that cut the lead to five. Boston’s lapses in the Suns’ surge included four turnovers and five straight misses. Phoenix kept attacking and got the lead down to 74-73. Isaiah then reeled off seven straight points, but a Devin Booker buzzer basket made the score 81-75 going to the fourth.
Thomas and Olynyk led the way back to a 10-point Boston lead early in the fourth, but Phoenix continued to chip away. Smart missed a three from the corner but redeemed himself with an amazing, grab-it-behind-the-back offensive board in the middle of three Suns, leading to a Jonas Jerebko triple. Then Smart recovered a loose ball and hit a short flip shot – 93-84, Celtics.
Jerebko swished another three (his third of the game), but Brandon Knight matched it, and when Booker hit a wrong-footed runner off glass, the Suns had pulled within five with 3:15 remaining. Bradley nailed a 20-footer (his only points of the second half as he may have tired). Then Booker responded. The youngster made a driving layup, fed Mirza Teletovic for a dunk, then dropped a 17-footer and Phoenix was within one at 98-97.
After a timeout, Boston ran the play that beat the Knicks earlier in the month, but this time Bradley couldn’t get the contested layup to drop. The Suns then isolated Booker for a jumper, but it rolled out and Turner rebounded. IT’s three was halfway down before spinning out, but Knight did Boston a favor by airballing a deep three. Smart was fouled with 21.1 seconds left and calmly made both to give the Cs a three-point lead.
Booker drove the lane, missed, but scored a putback to cut it to one with 15.4 seconds left. On the inbounds, IT was fouled with 13.9 seconds remaining but made only one. Turner then saved the game with his block on Booker. Smart was fouled, made the first, missed the second, but Phoenix was out of timeouts and couldn’t get off a final attempt.
The Green:
Smart drew two straight offensive fouls on the Suns in the second quarter. How often has that happened during his rocky relationship with refs?
IT scored 10 straight Celtics points from the late third quarter into the fourth to prevent Phoenix from taking the lead.
Turner had 17 points and 11 rebounds, in addition to the huge block.
Despite all the Phoenix surges, they never took the lead after the early minutes of the first quarter.
The Gross:
IT was hit with an early T, his 11th of the season, after failing to get a call on a driving layup.
Phoenix outscored Boston in the third quarter, 34-23. Also, in the second half the Celts committed 12 turnovers and were outscored by 58-44.
Smart contributed many hustle plays and was a big factor in the win, but he did shoot 0 of 5 from the arc. Read a stat sheet, Marcus.
The Greenlights:
IT closes the first quarter.
Sullinger hustle leads to break.
The C’s are proving that defense leads to offense, and ball movement leads to buckets. Check it out: pic.twitter.com/5oQrWUbtmq
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 27, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsRozier gets playing time.
Terry Rozier fakes, then flashes to the hoop for the easy 2! pic.twitter.com/BclCl2rzKe
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 27, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The Grid:
- IT has now scored 20-plus in 12 straight games.
- Points in the Paint: Celtics 46 (23/37), Suns 48 (24/39)
- Fast Break Points: Celtics 14 (5/10), Suns 23 (8/11)
- Celtics tallied just 14 assists; they average 24.2.
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