Everything you need to know about the Celtics' blowout win over the Phoenix Suns, with BSJ insight and analysis
IN A NUTSHELL
The Celtics and Sun opened up going back and forth, looking like a true matchup between two of the best teams in the NBA. Chris Paul was slinging dimes and the Suns had a lead, but Boston went on on a 17-2 run, mostly after Paul sat down, and they never looked back.
HEADLINES
Everything put together: The Celtics' offense was rolling (125 points, 29 assists, 48.5% shooting) and the defense was stifling (98 points allowed, 14 steals, 39.8% shooting). We wondered what things would look like when they put both sides of the ball together, and this is it.
Message sent: More on this later, but the Celtics played a complete game here. It was most impressive, to me, that they played with the effort they did in the third quarter. This easily could have been a passive second half to just hold on against the Suns, but they did what we always ask for in situations like this … they didn’t run out the clock, they finished the job.
No heavy lifting for C’s stars: Jaylen Brown was super aggressive early on and Jayson Tatum was part of the big second quarter for the Celtics, but typically blowouts like this involve one or both of those guys getting super hot. They were good, scoring 25 each, but these weren’t overly special games from either of them. It might say more about how good they are when 25-point nights are basically average (or below average, technically), but this really was a full team effort.
TURNING POINT
It was 42-30 when the Celtics went on a steal binge to make it 54-30 over the course of two minutes. That's a 12-0 run, and 10 of those points were off turnovers. It was never a game after that.
SECOND GUESS
Why was Brown out there to start the fourth quarter of a nearly 40-point game? He wasn’t out there long, but I have no clue why he was out there at all.
FOUR UP
Grant Williams: A perfect night from him, and I’m not just talking about his 6-6 shooting (2-2 3pt). He was doing a bit of everything, defending, attacking, rebounding … bottle this Grant Williams and bring that every night.
Malcolm Brogdon: He was a huge part of the late first-quarter run, scoring 8 of 10 Celtics points to build a 12-point lead. One play, in particular, impressed me in the second quarter when Tatum held the ball too long, Brogdon got the pass and immediately drove it into the paint and found a cutting Luke Kornet for a layup. He took what might have been a stagnant possession and got an assist out of it. That's the kind of impact he has.
Derrick White: He had a stretch where he was everywhere. It started with a putback dunk, a steal, an assist on a Williams 3, a 3-pointer himself, and another steal that led to a Brown jumper. Those two steals were part of that turning point sequence
Blake Griffin: HE’S UNDEFEATED AS A STARTER! Okay, joking aside, he gave the Celtics 21 good minutes after 32 against the Raptors. With Al Horford surprisingly in health and safety protocols, he was pulled into service again and he delivered, this time with 3-4 shooting from deep to go along with 9 rebounds and another charge taken.
NONE DOWN
The Celtics were pretty good from top to bottom. What am I going to criticize in a game where they led by 45?
ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
- This was a MESSAGE
We’ve seen the Celtics build big leads before and then let up. There was none of that in this game.
The Celtics came out of the half with a vengeance. They pushed their lead even higher, and when things looked to be in control, Smart made hustle plays. He out-rebounded three Suns to put back a miss to make a lead 42. He came up with a pair of steals, one of which led to a Griffin 3-pointer.
The Celtics were not content, and they made sure everyone saw it.
Nationally televised games are great stages, and sometimes players thrive in those (remember National TV Rajon Rondo?) The Celtics have the best record in the NBA, but heading into Phoenix with the whole basketball world watching, they saw the opportunity to put the league on notice and they took it.
The early runs were part of good basketball. The lead swelled when their defense stepped up. The blowout materialized when the Suns missed everything. The chance to send the message to the league presented itself at the half.
They came out of the half and let everyone know that beating this team, playing this way, takes nothing less than a team’s best effort. Anything short of that, and this is what happens.
Next up: The Celtics have a couple of days off before a nationally televised Finals rematch against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday at 8:30 on ABC.