BSJ Game Report: Celtics 127, Suns 112 - Brown & Tatum combine for 63 in fourth straight win

Everything you need to know about the Celtics win over the Suns, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics came out a little sluggish but 3-point shooting (7-11) helped them hang around until their defense showed up and powered a three-point lead. Offensive rebounds and a burst from Bol Bol powered Phoenix in the second, but Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 43 first-half points and Boston led by five at the break. The 3-pointers kept falling the third quarter as the Celtics pushed their lead to 20, and the fourth quarter was basically even as the Celtics cruised to the finish line. This is Boston's fourth straight win.

Box Score 

HEADLINES

- 3-point barrage: Their 25 made 3-pointers ties a season-high, which they’ve done twice before (vs. Golden State earlier this month and at the Clippers in December). It’s two off the franchise record of 27. They took 50 3-pointers, the eighth time taking 50 or more this season. It’s the first time they shot 50% this season taking 50 or more 3-pointers. They made 47% in that Clippers game.

- Tatum & Brown: They combined for 63 points, with Brown owning the second half. He scored 17 of his 37 in the second half, picking up the slack for Tatum, who had 23 in the first half but went cold after halftime. 

“He’s playing so well. Both ends of the floor,” Joe Mazzulla said. “He can score on anybody any time, and he's taking the ones early on the shot clock when he feels like he has an advantage, and he's slowing down and reading the game when he doesn’t. It's been a huge growth for him, and it's a different layer for our team when he's aggressive, especially getting to the free throw line and creating opportunities for other people. He’s playing a really well-rounded basketball on both ends. It's fun to watch.”

- Impressive energy: I thought this would be a bumpier ride than it was, but aside from allowing too many second-chance points in the first half (something they corrected in the second half), I thought this was a pretty well-played game for the first home game after a long road trip. These games are typically clunky for the home team, but the Celtics … once again … didn’t give in to the excuse. 

“I really liked the mindset of our group tonight,” Al Horford said. “It’s a long season. Sometimes this kind of happens in the schedule and for us to find a way to compete and battle, and I felt like we did that all night. We knew we were going to get their best shot and we just stayed the course and continued to make energy plays and continued to play hard.”

TURNING POINT

The Suns cut the lead to three, 68-65, early in the third, but the Celtics responded with an 11-0 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes to take a 14-point lead. If we want to take it a step further, the run would hit 27-13 to take the lead out to 20. However you slice it, the third quarter in various pieces or as a whole, changed the game. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Shot selection: It might sound funny to say that on a night where they took 50 3-pointers and 39 2-pointers, but I thought the shots they took were mostly well-generated. Of the 25 3-pointers they made, 20 of them were assisted. The ball movement was good most of the night, and the ball ended up in the right hands for the right shots. 

- Jaylen Brown: More on his game later, but I have been impressed with his focus all season long. When is the last time you saw him give up a backdoor cut? He’s been great on both ends of the floor. 

- Jayson Tatum: He moved the ball very well. I’m curious to see what his potential assists and secondary assists end up looking like. He scored 14 points in the first quarter but willingly gave the ball up when the Suns started to double. 

“You just understand how the defense is guarding you,” he said. “You’ve gotta pick the defense apart, and you don’t get the assist but find an open man and they kick it to the guy who’s open for the three. That’s just good basketball and we’ve just got to play the right way all the time.”

- Al Horford: He was 6-10 from deep, cashing in on his opportunities when the ball movement found him. 

- Jrue Holiday: He took five shots and still managed to be a +26, mostly thanks to his 10 assists and 3-5 shooting from deep. Oh, and two blocks and two steals help. 

- Derrick White: 13 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals, and a blocked shot straight up on Jusuf Nurkic. If White isn’t first-team All-Defensive, then I don't know what we’re even doing with the postseason awards. White is the best defensive guard in the league. 

- Joe Mazzulla: The man sticks to his principles. He doesn’t want guys firing up shots in front of his bench after the whistle blows so they can feel good about themselves watching one go in. He has directed everyone, even his coaches, to stop those shots. 

He’ll even do it himself.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Second chance points: When the Celtics give them up, they really give them up. The Celtics lost the second chance points battle by 12 in the first half but they won it in the second half before garbage time, so that's a nice recovery. But they have to focus on boxing out against these teams that like to crash. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- Joe Mazzulla is a madman

Let’s revisit this for a second. 

An NBA head coach saw an opposing player coming down the floor after a timeout, at a point in the game where things were probably decided, and decided to challenge the long 3-point attempt he was just tossing up for the hell of it. 

I haven't seen that one before. How many NBA head coaches challenge those post-whistle shots? It’s weird, right?

“Joe being Joe,” Tatum said when asked about it. 

Brown didn’t see it because he was fired up after his dunk and yelling at the crowd, but “that sounds like Joe Mazzulla.” 

If Tatum is saying he wasn’t caught off guard by that, and other players are unfazed by it, what kind of stuff is Mazzulla doing in practice that has desensitized them to that? 

To Mazzulla’s credit, he’s basically upholding an edict he has set for his team. 

“One of my biggest pet peeves is just thinking that a guy's just going to get a free shot, and it's just not the way it works,” he said. “If we're going to hold our team to the standard, then hold the staff to the same thing. So there's been times where we've missed it and I've held the staff accountable to it, and you’ve got to do the best job you can of not doing it.”

It’s a little gamesmanship, according to Mazzulla, who doesn’t want to see guys hit a shot like that and then feel good about themselves. 

I feel like Kevin Garnett started this trend of not letting guys see the ball go in on shots like that. Mazzulla might be taking it to another level, but the mentality comes from the same place. 

Either way, Mazzulla is a madman. It’s hilarious. 

Next up: Boston heads to Washington for a 6 p.m. game on Sunday