Kelly Olynyk looked so comfortable and got so hot, he must’ve thought he was back at Gonzaga, or playing with the Canadian National Team. The lanky long-hair (no man bun tonight) single-handedly broke open a competitive contest by racking up 15 second-quarter points, including 13 straight Celtics points in a stretch of 2:14. Boston topped Phoenix, 117-101, leading wire to wire.
KO finished with a team-high 21 points on 8-16 shooting, nine boards and three steals, and he wasn’t alone in making an impact. Marcus Smart tallied his first career triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, plus two steals and two blocks.
Boston got off to a good start, taking a 36-29 lead at the end of the first quarter. Amir Johnson continued his steady play by scoring the first five points of the game off pick-and-rolls with Isaiah Thomas. Amir finished the period with nine points, three rebounds and two assists. IT also had nine points with four assists, and Jae Crowder scored eight.
In the second, the Cs kept threatening to pull away, with flashbacks to the last game as they scored several hoops in transition after steals. But Phoenix hung in behind eight points from Brandon Knight. That is, until the Olynyk explosion. The Celtics closed out the half with a 22-5 run for a 68-47 lead going to the locker room.
It got a bit closer in the third as the Cs let down some; Phoenix scored eight second-chance points; and Mirza Teletovic got hot for the Suns. He had 15 points in the period while nailing four three-pointers. Phoenix also shot 14 of 17 on free throws as the refs got involved.
Things got a bit nervous in the fourth quarter as the Suns hit some early threes and cut the lead to 13. Jonas Jerebko calmed that down by hitting two triples. All that was left was for Smart to grab a few boards to clinch his triple-double.
The Green:
Seven Celtics finished in double figures scoring.
Celts had 30 assists on 42 made baskets, and were 14 of 30 on threes.
Jared Sullinger was effective with 11 and 10, and Amir posted 13 and five.
Isaiah scored 19 while playing exactly 24 minutes – the entire first and third quarters. He wasn’t needed in the second and fourth quarters because of the big lead.
The Gross:
Evan Turner continued to be invisible, taking and making just one shot, one board, 0 assists.
Celts were a bit casual in the third, allowing the Suns to hang around, as if Boston has never blown any big leads this season.
The Greenlights:
Kelly O. with the O.
Kelly Olynyk was on in the 2nd quarter! Watch him score 13 straight points for the C’s: https://t.co/T77LhgSPCe
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 16, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsIsaiah reverse-posterizes hapless Devin Booker. https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
The Grid:
- Points in the Paint: Suns 28 (14/39), Celtics 44 (22/44)
- 2nd Chance Points: Suns 18 (7/12), Celtics 11 (5/17)
- Biggest Lead: Suns 0, Celtics 25
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
