BOSTON — Derrick White turned the ball over on two straight possessions to open Monday night's game. It was as rocky a start as could be for the Boston Celtics, and the Phoenix Suns capitalized. They jumped out to an early 8-0 lead and left the Celtics playing catch-up.
But that's exactly what they did.
Jaylen Brown bullied his way inside for the first 12 minutes of the game. He took 10 free throws in the first quarter - more than any other NBA player has tallied in a first quarter this season. And once the Suns started throwing double-teams at him, he seamlessly switched from a score-first player to a pass-first player.
Right by his side was Derrick White, who caught fire from deep range to open the second quarter. He went on a personal 9-0 run, nailing three threes. And from there, he was able to get inside, driving cloeouts and finishing at the rim.
Phoenix still managed to stay hot from three-point range, though. Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale, and Haywood Highsmith combined to nail six threes. But Devin Booker was the star of the show.
The Celtics smothered him. White, Sam Hauser, and Baylor Scheierman were all over Booker for the entire first half. But it didn't seem to matter. He was unstoppable.
Booker ended the first half with 19 points, two rebounds, and four assists on 7-of-11 shooting. And he wasn't done there.
Boston got off to a hot start in the third quarter. They were getting to the basket, Jayson Tatum was finding his rhythm by driving to the rim, and at one point, they were up by as many as nine points.
But Booker wasn't going anywhere.
The dominant scoring run he enjoyed in the first half didn't miss a beat once the third quarter started. Boston just couldn't contain him.
In the third alone, he had 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor and 2-of-4 shooting from deep. The Celtics even started doubling him in the third quarter. It worked at times, but Booker still found a way to score.
When the fourth quarter came around, it was a tight contest. Boston had maintained its narrow lead for most of the game (since their tough start), but the Suns wouldn't back down.
Highsmith remained hot, nailing two threes and two free throws in the first half of the fourth quarter. Jalen Green and Booker thrived alongside him, and Phoenix quickly turned Boston's lead into a one-possession game.
Payton Pritchard found some success from beyond the arc in the second half, but the Celtics got sloppy.
Boston, a team that prides itself on taking care of the ball, turned into a turnover machine in the fourth. They coughed up the ball time and time again, which allowed the Suns to get easy buckets in transition.
Booker's gravity sucked in the defense, too, which put the Celtics out of position more often than they'd like to be. This led to more offensive rebounds for Phoenix and some late closeouts by Boston.
With just over four minutes to go, Phoenix had a four-point lead.
But the Celtics buckled down. They only
