Key Moment
The Celtics on Wednesday marched into Phoenix to take on the West’s top seed. All they did was obliterate their opponent. This was a true domination, and in every sense of the word.
Boston afforded Phoenix only seven minutes of competitive basketball before leaving the Suns in the dust. The score was 16-13 in favor of Phoenix at the 5:09 mark of the first period before the Celtics rattled off 10 straight points to begin their incredible run for the remainder of the night.
That 10-0 run, which Blake Griffin initiated with a 3-pointer, lasted for 2:13 of action. Boston soon upped it to a 17-2 run to pull ahead 30-18.
Once the ball got rolling for Boston, there was no stopping it. The C’s continued to pick Phoenix apart at both ends of the court for the remainder of the night, at one point pulling ahead by as many as 45 before closing out a mindboggling 125-98 victory over the No. 1 seed in the West.
Key Player
Malcolm Brogdon continued his push for Sixth Man of the Year Wednesday night in Phoenix by piling up 16 points on only nine shot attempts. The versatile wing made seven of those field goals, including a 2-for-4 effort from long distance. Eight of his points were scored during the opening frame, all of which were tallied as the Celtics were taking complete control of the game.
When it comes to Brogdon, you know the numbers didn’t stop there, either. He also contributed five assists to go along with three rebounds while logging only 19 minutes of action.
Box Score Nuggets
- Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown tied for the team high in scoring with 25 points apiece.
- All five of Boston’s starters finished with a plus/minus rating of at least plus-23.
- Phoenix’s starters combined to score only 44 points – six fewer than Tatum and Brown alone.
- Boston led by as many as 45 points.
- Nine of the 11 Celtics who logged more than 10 minutes of action contributed at least one assist, led by six from Derrick White.
- The C’s limited Phoenix to just 39.8 percent shooting from the field.
- Josh Okogie led the game with 28 points off the bench for Phoenix.
- Boston made twice as many 3-pointers as Phoenix – 16 to eight.
- Marcus Smart grabbed four steals to lead a 14-steal night by Boston.
- Grant Williams (14 points) and Luke Kornet (12 points) each shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the field.
Quote of the Night
“I think defensively, we started getting back to ourselves. Like, being able to lock teams up, suffocate teams.”
– Jaylen Brown on what led to Boston’s domination of the Suns