BSJ Game Report: Celtics 116, Suns 111 -- The bench saves the day taken at TD Garden (Celtics)

Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports

Celtics

BSJ Game Report: Celtics 116, Suns 111 -- The bench saves the day

By Brian Robb

Dec 2, 2017 • 3:41 pm

0comment-bubble

Everything you need to know about the Celtics’ 116-111 win over the Suns in quickie form.

HEADLINES

The bench saves the day: The Celtics looked ripe for an upset in the midst of the third quarter against one of the worst teams in the NBA. Devin Booker (38 points) was torching the C’s and the hosts were scoring enough to keep pace, but it wasn’t an inspiring performance by any means. Then the all-bench unit shifted the momentum later in the period, closing out the frame and starting the fourth quarter with a 18-2 run that gave the Celtics enough of a cushion to hold off a Suns team that was playing better than their record. Marcus Morris led the charge within that group, scoring 17 points off the pine.   

Defense becoming a problem? Outside of about a six-minute stint in the third quarter and a few minutes in the first quarter, the Suns were carving up the Celtics’ defense. A lot of it was a hot shooting night from Booker (38 points), but visitors were passing the ball well and finding plenty of holes inside the C’s defense. Some of it may have been a focus issue for Boston with the weak opponent, but the C’s defense is trending downwards in the last couple weeks.   

TURNING POINT

The Suns cut a C’s double-digit fourth quarter deficit down to two points with just two minutes in the game, which left the TD Garden on edge. Kyrie Irving (19 points) responded with a pull-up 3-pointer off the pick to push the lead back to five, giving the hosts enough breathing room down the stretch to close things out.

TWO UP

Marcus Morris: The veteran may not be thrilled with coming off the bench, but he’s still making the most of his opportunities with the second unit. He had his second straight great game with 17 points, a team-high eight rebounds and a team-high 14 field goal attempts in 27 minutes.   

Devin Booker: This guy just loves playing at the TD Garden. The shooting guard followed up his 70-point performance from last season with a 38-point masterpiece on 16-of-29 shooting before fouling out with 17 seconds remaining. He’s one of the few bright spots right now on an underwhelming Phoenix roster.   

TWO DOWN

Terry Rozier: Played with some nice energy, particularly in the third quarter, but the jump shot was not falling all afternoon. He was just 1-of-6 from the field in 19 minutes.

Celtics’ defensive rebounding: The Celtics are slowly creeping down the defensive rebounding rankings in the NBA and that trend continued on Saturday afternoon. The Suns grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and scored 19 second chance points off those second opportunities, which factored into another lackluster outing by the C’s defense.

TOP PLAY

Strong finish to third quarter:




TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER


Marcus Smart’s offensive feel continues to improve:
The reserve point guard has scored in double digits in three of his last four games and he’s also added five-plus assists in each of those contests as well. With his 3-point shoot falling again (10-of-19 in past week), Smart has become a calming positive influence for the C’s offense, particularly when he plays with the starters. Boston’s offense is coming into its own and he’s part of the reason why.


The Celtics have another scoring gear late:
The Suns are terrible on defense, but the C’s clutch gene kicked in again late in the fourth quarter with a variety of characters stepping up with big baskets (Jayson Tatum and Kyrie Irving led the way). This obviously has been a regular trend throughout the year (the C’s have one of the best fourth-quarter offenses in the NBA), and that is a promising sign for a young team with plenty of new parts.    

Show Comments
Loading...
Loading...
0
Show comments for this article