Final: Celtics 123, Suns 108 - Celtics stumble late, but get much needed win over Suns

Game 36
Boston Celtics (16-19, 9-7 home, 10th East) vs. Phoenix Suns (27-7, 11-4 road, T-1st West)
TD Garden
1PM - NBC Sports Boston 

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

Boston - Marcus Smart, Romeo Langford, Jaylen Brown, Robert Williams, Al Horford

Phoenix - Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Cam Johnson, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Smith

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

- Marcus Smart returns after missing a couple of games with a laceration on his right hand. 

“He’ll be wrapped up, padded, and went through quite a bit of shooting in practice yesterday,” Ime Udoka said before the game, characterizing Smart’s return as a matter of pain tolerance. “When you got Chris Paul and Devin Booker tonight that'll be definitely a benefit. When you're missing Jayson and some other guys as well, that leadership and that experience, we've been leaning on some younger guys, and that's been definitely missed.”

- Celtics remaining in Health and Safety Protocols: Jayson Tatum, Aaron Nesmith, Dennis Schroder, Enes K. Freedom, Bruno Fernando

“Most guys get impatient as far as (leaving protocols) and especially when there aren’t a ton of symptoms and all that,” Udoka said. “(Tatum is) going through the process like everybody else and itching to get back. He's played in every game this year until this happened and prided himself on that, staying ready, playing heavy minutes, and kind of shouldering a lot of load. So he's ready to get back and I think it's frustrating for him, for guys on the outside watching as well, as some of the struggles without them and how they could be impacting the game.”

- Suns in protocols: DeAndre Ayton, Jae Crowder, JaVale McGee, Abdel Nader

- Other Suns injuries: Frank Kaminsky (knee), Dario Saric (ACL tear recovery)

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1. Phoenix fatigue: This game starts at 11 AM for them. 11 AM sucks for NBA players. NBA life is a nocturnal one, so the Suns could sleepwalk out of the gate here. Playing a game at 1 PM hasn’t exactly been fantastic for the Celtics in recent years, but at least it’s the approximate time they might be practicing, so they do have an advantage. They need to pounce right away. 

2. Attack the rim: No Ayton and No McGee means there will be opportunities to get to the rim and get some easy buckets. Boston needs to get some confidence and easy layups to get themselves going. There's nothing like the confidence of getting some chippies, getting the home crowd involved, and feeding off that to play free and see some jumpers fall. 

Bonus: The matinee means there will be a ton of kids in the crowd and they love nothing more than making buckets. Points one and two here are especially important to keep the young kids interested. If the C’s are blah early, then you’ll see half the crowd not even paying attention and playing on devices. 

3. Playing free: The Celtics are not having fun out there, which means we’re not having fun up here. Basketball is a game first and foremost, and somehow these guys need to find some joy on the floor. Let loose. Build a lead and play like you’re having fun with it. 

GAME THREAD

Stick around for more comments below as the game goes on. Feel free to add your two cents in the comments.