BSJ Game Report: Celtics 123, Suns 103 - Brown shakes off knee pain, drops 31

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

IN A NUTSHELL

Jaylen Brown got going early and the C’s defense held Phoenix to 37.5% shooting to take a nine-point lead after 12 minutes. It got up to 20 but the C’s let up, the Suns made a run, and the lead settled at 13 at halftime. It got up to 23 thanks to some aggressive play that drew free throws, but dropped to 15 after three. They finally got a 20-point lead to stick as the Suns fell apart in the fourth.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Brown looked good (but not 100%): He made a few of things clear after the game: First, he can’t share what’s really going on. Second, he has a plan that he feels like will make things better for the playoffs. Third, rest probably isn’t helping anything. So Brown made some adjustments and he found ways to score. I didn’t like the way he looked on some plays, but he was clearly effective. 

- Tatum does it all again: An easy 23/8/8 for Tatum on 50% shooting. It’s funny that we’re at a point where his ho-hum normal nights are like this. 

- Another 3-point record: The Celtics set the NBA record for most 3-pointers in a season during this game. 

“It says that we fight for a good shot regardless of what it is,” Joe Mazzulla said. “The most important thing is continuing to understand how we’re being defended. How can we generate 2-on-1s? How can we create the best shot possible? So it’s a credit to the guys for continuing to make the right reads and find their coverage solutions.”

That's the closest you’re ever going to get to acknowledging an accomplishment like this from Mazzulla until the season is over. 

TURNING POINT 

The Celtics went on a 23-4 run that spanned the first and second quarters to turn a one-point game into a 20-point game. There were some ebbs and flows from there, but the Celtics were pretty much in control after that run.

THINGS I LIKED

- Jaylen Brown: I wrote earlier on Friday that “these two weeks can be valuable for experimenting with how to play a modified version of his game to take some of the pressure off his knee.” After the game Brown said that's basically what’s happening. More than the made shots, I thought Brown getting to the line nine times in this game was the best sign of finding new ways to score. He won’t always go 10-16 from the field and 3-4 from 3, but he got to 31 points because he was 8-9 from the line. 

Also, he passed Antoine Walker for 14th on the Celtics all-time scoring list and he hit this prayer, which is fun. 

- Jayson Tatum: I would still like him to be more consistent from 3, but he was finishing well in this game and setting his teammates up. He also played some pretty good defense. 

- Derrick White: He was in a good mood in this game. He didn’t score a ton because he only got nine shots, but he still managed 12 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. The best moments of the night, though, were his reaction to the incorrect announcement of a technical foul on him (it was on Mike Budenholzer) and when he won a jumbotron bit about naming college mascots. Remember when he said he lost his joy earlier this season? This was the opposite of that.

- Kristaps Porzingis: He punished mismatches and scored a bunch in the post, he hit a couple of 3s, and he protected the rim well. But, like White, his best moment came outside the lines after taking an elbow from Cody Martin on a dunk attempt. Porzingis got up with a bloody face and then milked the moment at the bench and as he walked into the tunnel to get stitched up. 

Just get the man some WWE-style theme music already.

- Luke Kornet: He actually led the Celtics with eight points in the fourth quarter. He was all over the place in that run. He finished the game with 12 points and four rebounds, but once again all of those were offensive boards. He wasn’t needed as much with both Porzingis and Al Horford available, but he made an impact nonetheless.

- Paul Pierce getting a ring: The Celtics surprised Pierce with a championship ring. 

That's not the same ring the players got. It's the one the staff and employees got, but it's still a great gesture and a hell of a way to honor the past. This a Red Auerbach-style way of honoring Celtics culture.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- The officials: I can understand the offensive foul on Cody Martin to some degree, but even in the moment that should be something they are looking for. But the goaltending challenge Boston won was so blatantly obvious that I don’t understand how they missed it. The Celtics have had to challenge some really bad missed calls lately. 

- Bradley Beal: I just feel bad for him at this point. And when I say “at this point,” I mean it literally. He had one point tonight. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- It was good to see a fully (mostly) healthy team.

Brown’s knee notwithstanding, the Celtics had their whole team out there for the first time in more than a month. 

“It was good,” Mazzulla said. “I think more importantly, it’s just making sure we get reps. So we were able to do some stuff at shootaround today. Obviously, you want to get some reps of those guys, as long as we maintain our health, which I think we did. I thought they were able to just kind of execute and communicate with each other on both ends of the floor. So yeah, KP only got 23 because he obviously got the stitches, but tried to get them higher in minutes and reps together, and I thought they did a good job of it.”

I bet these guys get one, maybe two more games together before the playoffs. They shouldn’t need a ton of time to figure things out, but the time together is good. 

According to Cleaning The Glass (which filters out garbage time), the normal starting lineup is -2.2 this season but subbing Al Horford in for Porzingis is +18.5. Kornet instead of Porzingis is +17.4. 

The December/January swoon threw those numbers WAY off, so they can’t be trusted. We all know that this starting lineup is pretty damn good. Any kind of run to remind us of that is nice to see.      

Next up: The Celtics face the Wizards here at home on Sunday night.