Suns 112 - 127 Celtics summary, stats, scores and highlights | NBA
Brown put the exclamation mark on the win with this interception he took right to the rack and dunked on Grayson Allen. He ended the night with 37, Tatum had 26 and as the Celtics rattled off their fourth straight win. They should wrap up home court in the Eastern Conference Playoffs within the next weeks.
The Suns have now lost 4 of their last 7, and what's more troubling is this is their first loss when their Big Three of KD, Beal and Booker all score 20. They are now officially in Play-In position and will spend the rest of the season trying to stay healthy and claw into the top 6.
The C's had 12 steals which lead to points on the other end, like this three ball from Jrue Holiday. Boston hit 25 of their 50 threes on the night, Holiday had three of them and Horford had six to end his night with 24.
Everyone was chipping in on both sides of the ball. Derrick White had another Derrick White type night, doing everything for his team. He had 13, 8 and 5 assists to go along with this block on Nurkic.
Brown may have ended the night as the high scorer but it was Tatum who got off to a red hot start in the first half. He was on fire, going to the break with 23 points missing just two FGs.
Jaylen Brown came into the night questionable with back soreness after missing the Celtic's last game in Utah, but he started against the Suns who had no answer for him or Jayson Tatum on the offensive end.
The Boston Celtics returned home and stretched their win streak to four in a dominant performance on Thursday night in Boston. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 63 points, but all of the Celtics got a piece of the pie in the 127-112 win from TD Garden.
Kristaps Porzingis was forced to miss his fourth straight game due to a hamstring strain he suffered last week which meant it was Al Horford's chance to shine, and he took his chance.
IT'S ALL OVER!!!
The Celtics put their dominance on display at home and stretch their win streak to four game!
Young with the offensive board and that's going to do it.
Roddy down the middle and gets the off balanced lay up to drop.
Tillman drills the three ball from the corner off the kick out from Hauser!
The Suns starters are on the bench out of the timeout and Roddy gets the lay up to fall.
Brown picks off the pass from Allen and attacks the rim with a one handed slam!
Timeout Suns with under 3:00 to go in the 4th quarter.
Booker drives to the cup and lays it up
White on the catch and shoot after the kickout from Brown and the C's have made 24 threes tonight!
Booker pulls up from the wing and hits the mid range jumper.
Beal goes to the rack with a sprint and lay in off the glass.
1Kick out from Tatum and Horford hits the three in the corner, his sixth three! He's got 24.
Allen with the hesitation underneath and gets the lay up to go.
White running the break and the entry pass goes into Horford for the lay up down the lane.
Holiday drills a corner three to end the mini surge by Phoenix.
Booker fouled with his foot on the line and he hits both FTs after the foul on Tillman.
Allen with the rebound on one end and he goes coast to coast on the lay up.
Booker hits the FT lin jumper off the turn around fade away.
Brown air balled the three Pritchard put back the rebound and White was there to tip in the miss.
Durant off the dribble and he slams it home on the baseline.
Step back from Brown and he hits the three ball over Bol Bol!
Timeout Suns with 9:10 to go in the 4th quarter!
Brown almost fell, but kept his dribble and pulled up with an off balanced jumper from the FT line.
Beal off the dribble and gets the leaner in the lane to fall.
Brown gets into the lane and hits the floater in traffic.
Allen was wide open at the top of the key after the offensive board form Wainwright and he drills the three to start the 4th.
WE ARE HEADED TO THE FOURTH QUARTER AND THE CELTICS ARE IN CONTROL, UP BY 17.
Booker hits the long two from the top of the key and he landed on the foot of Tillman and went down. He's back to his feet but got up with a grimace.
Hauser of the curl and he drills the three ball out of the timeout!
Booker with a three ball from the wing and the Celtics are going to take a timeout with under a minute to go in the third quarter after a little run from the Suns.
Nurkic banging in the paint and gets a lay in to fall.
Tillman in the lane and he hits the little shot put attempt in the lane.
Allen finally gets a three ball to fall after the C's went on a 16-3 run.
Nurkic to the line after the foul on Tillman, but he misses both and Horford drills another three on the other end to add insult to injury!
Horford drops another three ball after dragging down the offensive board! He's got 16 points on the night.
Durant to the line after the foul on Tatum and he hits one of two FTs.
Hauser from the corner off the kick out from Horford and he drill the three ball!
Durant drops the FT line jumper and that's his first bucket since the first quarter.
Coach Vogel was T'd up in the break and Tatum hits the FT after the timeout.
Back to back triples from Holiday and Brown and just like that the C's lead is back to 13!
Timeout Suns with 5:50 to go in the third quarter!
Nurkic puts it on the deck and takes Horford to the rim for the lay up.
Kickout from Durant for Allen and he drills the three on the wing!
Beal goes up and under in the lane. he and Booker have to step up after KD cooled off since the 1st Q.
Beal comes out of the TO and turns it over to Holiday who finds Tatum on the break for the lay up.
White with a catch and shoot from the corner and the Celtics have their biggest lead of the night!
Timeout Suns with 8:49 to go in the 3rd quarter.
Brown to the line after the foul on Booker and he hits both FTs.
White running the break and gets the lay up after the hesitation move to the rim.
Horford to the line after the foul on Allen and he hits both FTs.
Booker gets to his spot and hits the mid range jumper.
Beal answers with a three ball with the clock winding down off the kick out from Nurkic.
Brown drills a three ball to get the seecond half started and now he and Tatum have 23.
WE ARE BACK IN BOSTON WITH THE SECOND HALF OF ACTION!
Bol Bol came off the bench and played some big minutes. He even got some love from Shaq in the TNT halftime studio after scoring 10 and grabbing 3 rebounds.
Jaylen Brown was questionable coming into the game, but he got the start and he's been unstoppable through two quarters. He's got 20 at the break.
Al Horford got the start with Porzingis on the bench with a hamstring injury. He's got 11 points on 3/5 from DT.
The C's pride themselves on their defense but there has been no answer for KD tonight for Boston.
KD is no stranger to the Garden, and he's no stranger to the big stage. He set the tone for both teams in the first half.
WE ARE HEADING TO HALFTIME FROM BOSTON!!!
The Celtics lead by five after two quarter. That was a whole lot of fun, let's hope that pace continues for the second half.
Booker in the paint and that pull up J falls.
Tatum with back to back threes from the same spot on the left wing!
Long rebound for Tatum and he pulls the trigger from downtown!
Beal to the line after the foul on Tatum and he hits both FTs.
Horford answers back with a three ball of his own and we're back to a three point game.
Extra pass from Beal to Wainwright who hits the three from the top of the key
Tatum to the line after the foul on Durant and he hits one of two FTs.
Beal take Horford off the dribble and lays it up off the glass from the left side.
Brown clearing the way on the drive from the corner and he lays it up and in AND gets the foul! FT is good.
Tatum off the dribble and he lays it off the glass with the left hand.
Brown to the line after the foul on Booker but he misses both FTs.
Bol Bol in the corner and he drills the three ball! He's got 10 off the bench in the first half.
Timeout Celtics with 4:57 to go in the 1st half.
Booker pulls up from the mid range and hits th elbow J.
Brown with a strong drive to the lane and he lays it up and in.
Another offensive board, this time from Bol Bol and he gets the put back to go.
Brown pulls up from the wing and drills the three ball!
Nurkic with the offensive board and feeds it to Bol Bol for the jump hook.
Brown running the floor and Pritchard feeds him with an alley for the lay up.
Bol Bol off the bench and on the scoreboard with a three ball from the wing.
Brown hits the jumper in the lane.
Nurkic drags down the offensive rebound and puts it back up and in.
Allen in the corner off the feed from Beal.
Allen pull up from the elbow is good.
White with the catch and shoot off the feed from Borown.
Brown goes into the body of Nurkic, gets the bucket and the foul! FT is good.
WE ARE AT THE END OF A VERY EXCITING FIRST QUARTER!!!
Boston leads by three after a head to head battle between KD and Tatum. KD has 15 on 7/8 shooting and Tatum has 14 on 6/9 shooting.
Holiday finds Kornet cutting to the iron and finds him for the slam.
After a couple of offensive boards, KD sidesteps in the lane and hits the runner.
Pritchard steps into a three and sets this place ablaze from the top of the key.
Tatum with the steal and the slam off the turnover from O'Neale.
Kornet with the kick out to Holiday who drills the three ball!
Durant spots up from the mid range and sinks a three over White.
Tatum goes right to the rim and finishes with a finger roll.
Beal gets comes out of the timeout and goes right to the rack for a lay up.
Tatum is heating up! He goes step back for a second straight possession and this time he hits the three ball over KD!
Timeout Suns with 3:12 to go in the first quarter.
Tati off the step back and hits the two with a foot on the line.
Booker gets to his spot on the baseline and drops the mid range jumper.
Booker to the line after the foul on Holiday and he hits both FTs.
Tatum answers back with a three ball from the top of the key. Is this about to be a battle between two of the best scorers in the NBA?
KD drills a triple with a hand in his face and he's already got 9.
Beal off the glass from close range and we are heading to the first timeout of the opening quarter with under 6:00 to go in the first.
Tatum on the board for the first time tonight with a lay up down the lane.
Durant slashes to the bucket and Nurkic finds him for the lay up.
Brown gets inside and finishes from underneath the basket.
Horford answers back from the top of the key and he's got two triples on the night.
Beal drops a three ball and he's got five quick points.
Allen pulls up from the lane on a short baseline jumper and drills it.
Beal floats one down the lan from the FT line.
Brown drops the three ball from the corner off the kickout from White.
Durant is hot out of the gate. He hits another short jumper from the lane.
Horford with the steal and the score at half court.
KD pulls up from the elbow in transition and hits it over White.
Horford with the first bucket of the game for the C's and it comes from downtown!
Nurkic follows up a miss from Booker with a tip in underneath.
KD starts up with a midrange jumper from the elbow.
WE ARE UNDERWAY FROM BOSTON!!
Celtics first five
It's Al Horford filling in down low for the injured Kristaps Porzingis. He will be joined by Tatum and Brown while White plays the perfect side kick role for the dynamic duo and Jrue Holiday will be holding things down on the defensive end.
Suns starters
The Phoenix Suns have their Big Three available tonight and are looking to hand the Celtics a rare home loss. It's KD, Booker, Beal joined by Grayson Allen who is the league's best three point shooter and Jusuf Nurkic who is a rebounding machine.
Who's team is it anyways?
There are less than 20 games to go in the regular season, and the Suns need to use this time to build the chemistry between their Big Three who have had trouble staying on the court for long stretches of the season. Bradley Beal is the new guy, and has had to reduce his role on the team after coming from a Washington team in which he played the main character. It’s still not clear who the offense is supposed to run through, Kevin Durant or Devin Booker. That will be Frank Vogel’s job for the remainder of the regular season as the Suns look to stay healthy and climb up the Western Conference standings into the top four spots in attempts to get home court in the playoffs.
Tonight the Celtics return home on a three game win streak and will have their two stars available for tonight's game against the Suns. Jayson Tatum was never really in question but Jaylen Brown was after sitting out the second end of a back-to-back with back soreness in Utah. Kristaps Porzingis, however, will be out for a fourth straight game as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury he suffered last week against the Nuggets.
NBA Standings
Taking a look at the standings in the East and the West coming into tonight’s early tip we see the Celtics well ahead of the rest of the pack in the East. They have been the best, most consistent team all season, and are a few games away from wrapping up the one seed and home court throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. They are six games above the Denver Nuggets and if they can finish the season above them or whoever wins the West, that means they would have home court in the Finals, should they get there. The Suns come into tonight with the same record as the Sacrament Kings, but because of a tie breaker that favors the Kings, Phoenix are in 7th and Sacramento are in 6th. That means if the season ended today, the Suns would have to get through the Play-In game. There is a cluster of teams currently hanging around the sixth spot, and it’s most likely going to stay that way until the end of the season.
NBA's best backcourt?
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have it figured out. While a lot of other star back courts, or super teams struggle to get their studs to coexist the Celtics have a formula which they hope will bring title glory back to Boston. There are no egos, there is no bickering about who gets more shots, or who is going to take the last shot. Joe Mazzulla has the luxury of having to mature players who have spent their entire NBA careers with each other and can put away selfish thoughts for the greater good of the team.
Celtics last game
Boston wrapped up their five game road swing in Utah, and led the whole way from Salt Lake City. After maintaining a double digit lead for the first three quarters, Utah clawed back into the game but then went cold going into the final 12 minutes of the game. Boston went on a 20-0 run to start the fourth quarter as the Jazz failed to score a point for more than six minutes. Jayson Tatum had 38 points and Derrick White chipped in 24 in place of Jaylen Brown who spent the night on the sidelines resting a sore back.
Suns last game
After the Suns home loss to the Celtics over the weekend, Phoenix went to Cleveland and had to comeback from 19 points down in the second quarter to get back into the win column. Devin Booker returned from his ankle injury and scored 27 points, but it was Kevin Durant who came through in the clutch as the Suns rallied over the Cavs in the second half. Phoenix went on an 18-3 run to take the lead in the third quarter and they would hold on to it for the rest of the game to stay in the top six in the Western Conference.
We are live from Boston
Hello everyone and welcome to the Garden where the Celtics return home with a comfortable lead over the rest of the Eastern Conference, and looking to keep their three game win streak alive tonight in front of their home fans. The Phoenix Suns visit Boston to take on the Celtics for the second time in less than a week. Phoenix is finally have their Big Three healthy again after Devin Booker was kept out for the last few games, including the loss to the Celtics, with a sprained ankle. Tonight Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Booker will look to take down a team that has lost just three games at home all season.
Suns vs. Celtics
The league leading Celtics are back home after a five game road trip and bring a three game win streak back to Boston. The Phoenix Suns come into town looking to knock off the C’s while trying to keep their cushion over the teams currently in Play-In position tonight from TD Garden. AS English will be with you all night providing live coverage, stats, highlights and analysis of tonight’s early tip from Bean Town.