Game Recap: Suns crumble in 127-112 loss to the Celtics

The Phoenix Suns were unable to match the Boston Celtics and their hot shooting from three, falling 127-112.

Shooting 50% from behind the arc (25-of-50), the Celtics started off slow but rallied at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. Behind Jason Tatum, Al Horford, and Jalen Brown, combining for 87 points, the Suns trio of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Kevin Durant failed to keep up with a combined 65 points.

It was a game you can throw away or learn something from. With Booker unable to find his stroke and Durant going cold in the second half, there were no answers for the best team in the league. Putting this one quickly behind them, the Suns will hope to only play better tomorrow night against the Charlotte Hornets.

Game Flow

First half

Chasing the Celtics into the second quarter, the Suns trailed 35-32 behind Durant draining seven of his eight attempts from the field. Along with Beal scoring nine, the Suns kept things close after Jason Tatum caught fire, scoring 14 points.

The Suns moved the ball early on to go along with eight assists. Wearing out the Celtics with great passing, the Suns maintained momentum to stay in the game after the Celtics managed to counter every attack.

Up by eight early on, the Suns let the Celtics back in the game behind seven made threes, but like the Celtics, the Suns had an answer to stop their run.

Helping quiet the Celtics, Bol Bol entered and went on a scoring spree in the second quarter. In eight minutes, Bol scored 10 points, hitting both his threes, and grabbed three rebounds. His surge in the second was much needed, as Durant went cold and Booker was yet to find his stroke.

The Celtics added five more threes in the second quarter. Behind Tatum, like the first quarter, there were stretches in the second were he could not be stopped.

Tatum and Jalen Brown had a combined 43 points entering the half as the Celtics were up on the Suns 65-60.

Second Half

Turning the ball over early to begin the second half, the Suns found themselves down by 12. The trio of Booker, Beal, and Durant looked lost and tried to force the issue themselves without moving the ball. After moving the ball so well in the first half, things started to fall apart.

The Suns were looking for foul calls that were not there, taking their focus off of a 7-0 run that cut into the Celtics lead. Head Coach Frank Vogel ran onto the court for an explanation as the Suns wasted a timeout down 85-72. He then received a technical after letting out his frustrations on missed calls by the referees.

Have they missed calls? Possibly, but the Suns did not have the leeway to give up one point to the Celtics.

It took me a while to mention Al Horfords name because I was waiting for him to cool off, but his threes kept falling well into the third quarter. Wide open on every shot, the veteran was outplaying the Suns from behind the arc and also on the defensive end.

After three, the Celtics were pulling away 102-85.

Shooting 50% from behind the arc, Boston came out into the fourth shooting lights out again, as Beal did his best to move the ball and hit the open teammate. The only problem is that Ish Wanright was the open teammate. Trying to the match the Celtics, Ish clanked both threes and the Celtics ran up their lead to 19.

It was a broken Suns team that looked far from a contender and called it quits with three minutes left, emptying the bench. It wasn’t what you wanted to see, but we are left with the only choice of moving on to the next game against the Charlotte Hornets Friday night.

Suns lose, 127-112.

Up Next

The Suns are right back at it tomorrow night, playing the Hornets.