PHOENIX — Everything you need to know about the Celtics’ 116-109 win over the Suns in quickie form.
Box Score
HEADLINES
C’s recover from worst half of the season with huge rally: A nightmare performance over the first 24 minutes of this contest was erased behind the excellence of Kyrie Irving and some timely grittiness by his teammates. Irving scored 26 of his season-high 39 points in the second half and dished out a team-high six assists, leading the Celtics back from 22 down in the second half to pull out a 116-109 win. Marcus Morris (17 points) added a game-tying 3 with 0.3 seconds remaining in regulation as Boston fought back from 14 down in the final four minutes of the contest. The huge comeback spoiled monster nights for Devin Booker (38 points) and TJ Warren (29 points) in the defeat.
MOOK WITH ONE SECOND LEFT pic.twitter.com/oE5DGMfGzc
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 9, 2018
Jayson Tatum gets benched for Marcus Smart at start of second half:
Irving outduels Booker:
Irving and Booker went toe-to-toe during crunch time, but it was Irving that came out on top in the end, scoring 16 of his points in the final 8:02 of the game. Booker scored 19 of his 36 points during the fourth quarter and overtime but it was Irving that managed to deliver a clutch steal on the shooting guard with 14 seconds in regulation that opened the door for Boston to get a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds with a 3 from Morris, which was set up by Irving.
TURNING POINT
The Suns led 94-80 with 3:31 remaining in the fourth quarter before the visitors closed regulation on a 20-6 run. Irving scored 10 points during the stretch while Brown added six and the C’s went a perfect 3-of-3 from downtown over these closing minutes.
TWO UP
Kyrie Irving:
The All-Star’s hot streak since cutting off his fro haircut last week continues. Irving scored a season-high 39 points, which stands as his third 30-point game of the season, all coming in the past five games. He’s now made 4+ three-pointers in five consecutive games, tying the longest such streak of his career. Over the past five games, Irving is averaging 29.4 points per game.
Jaylen Brown in the second half:
The shooting guard scored all 17 of his points after the break, including six during Boston’s huge rally down the stretch to help the C’s force their way to overtime. Brown went 6-of-8 from the field over that stretch and grabbed five rebounds, becoming one of the only starters not named Irving to shake off a slow start and make big contributions during the comeback.
TWO DOWN
Jayson Tatum:
One of his worst outings as a Celtic. He went 1-of-8 from the field and played with limited effort on both ends of the floor early, a distinction that earned him a seat on the bench at the start of the second half. He looked better in the second half but his offensive game and reliance on midrange jumpers continues to be a burden on the C’s scoring woes. He’ll need to find his rhythm or he could be seeing himself as a sixth man soon.
Celtics in the first half:
They were lucky to trail by just 20 points after this debacle They shot just 21.7 percent from the field, 21 percent from 3-point range and the starters not named Kyrie Irving combined to go 0-of-15 from the field in the first half with zero points tallied over 45 minutes. The effort was arguably one of the worst we’ve seen during the Stevens era before the break.
TOP PLAY
MOOK WITH ONE SECOND LEFT pic.twitter.com/oE5DGMfGzc
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 9, 2018
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
It’s time to switch up the starting five:
It will already happen on Friday night anyway with Kyrie Irving missing the action due to attending a memorial for his grandfather but after another sluggish night for the starting unit, something needs to change in this group. Smart seems like the right man for the job, giving that group a more defensive-minded player that isn’t going to be looking for his shot regularly with so much talent surrounding him. The C’s potential with their usual starting five is reliant on them outscoring their opponents and they haven’t been able to do that to this point. Bringing in a more reliable defensive piece should help produce a more consistent effort on a nightly basis.
This game will be a turning point:
Without Irving in Utah, the C’s could have been looking at the prospect of an 0-5 road trip with two tough stops left over the next three days. Instead, the C’s pulled this one out of thin air with a sense of urgency that this group has been sorely lacking for the majority of their first 11 games of the year. It’s a reminder of what this group is capable of when it puts a foot on the gas, even though it came against one of the worst teams in the NBA. Some confidence should come with the victory as shades of a gritty Boston team that rallied so often last year made an appearance once more.