Suns (38-27) at Celtics (51-14) Game #66 3/14/24

[FLCeltsFan]

at
Phoenix Suns (38-27) at Boston Celtics (51-14)
Thursday, March 14, 2024
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #66, Home Game #33
TV:  TNT, AZ Family Sports
Radio: Rock 92.9, KMVP 98.7, Sirius XM
TD Garden



Probable Starters

Point Guard: Jrue Holiday    ...........................Shooting Guard: Derrick White


Center:  Al Horford


Small Forward:  Jaylen Brown   ................................... Power Forward: Jayson Tatum

Celtics Reserves
Oshae Brissett
Sam Hauser
Luke Kornet
Svi Mykhailiuk
Payton Pritchard
Jordan Walsh
Xavier Tillman
Jaden Springer

2 Way Players
JD Davison
Neemias Queta
Drew Peterson

Injuries/Out
Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring) out
Jaylen Brown (hip) questionable

Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla


Probable Starters

Point Guard:  Devin Booker.............................. Shooting Guard:  Bradley Beal
 

Center: Jusuf Nurkic


Small Forward: Grayson Allen ......................Power Forward:  Kevin Durant

Suns Reserves
Bol Bol
Drew Eubanks
Royce O'Neale
David Roddy
Thaddeus Young

Two Way Players
Udoka Azubuike
Saben Lee
Ish Wainright

Injuries/Out
Eric Gordon  (knee) questionable
Damion Lee (knee) out
Nassir Little (knee) probable
Josh Okogie  (abdomen) out

Head Coach
Frank Vogel

Game Notes
The Celtics return home from their road trip as they take on the Phoenix Suns.   This is the 2nd and final game between these two teams. The Celtics won the first game 117-107 on their recent road trip.  The Suns and Celtics split the series 1-1 last season with each team winning on their home court.  The Celtics are 76-60 overall all time and 42-24 in games played in Boston. 

The Celtics are 1st in the East, 9.5 games ahead of 2nd place Milwaukee, 10 games ahead of 3rd place Cleveland, 13 games ahead of 4th place New York, 14 games ahead of 5th place Orlando, and 14.5 games ahead of 6th place Indiana.  They are 29-3 at home and 8-2 in their last 10 games.  They are 17-7 against Western Conference teams and have won their last 3 games.

The Suns are 6th in the West, 7 games behind 1st place Oklahoma City, 3.5 games behind the 4th place Clippers and 1.5 games behind 5th place New Orleans.  They are half a game ahead of 7th place Sacramento and 1 game ahead of 8th place Dallas.  They are 17-13 on the road and 5-5 in their last 10 games.  They are 16-8 against Eastern Conference teams.  They are coming off a win in their last game.

The Celtics are coming off a 3-2 road trip, losing to Cleveland and Denver and finishing the trip with 3 wins over Phoenix,  Portland and Utah.  They will return home to face the Suns before a game in Washington.   They then have home games against Detroit and Milwaukee before a 6 game road trip through Detroit, Chicago, 2 games in Atlanta, New Orleans and Charlotte. 

The Suns are are coming off a 1-1 home stand, beating Toronto and losing to the Celtics.  They are playing in the 2nd game of a 4 game road trip. They started off with a win over Cleveland.  After this game, they will visit Charlotte and Milwaukee.   They will return home against Philadelphia and Atlanta before going on a 5 game road trip starting with 2 games in San Antonio and then Denver, Oklahoma City and New Orleans. 

Jaylen Brown is questionable for this game.  He missed the game in Utah with a sacroiliac injury and is questionable for this game with a hip contusion.  His status is a game time decision.  Kristaps Porzingis will miss his 4th straight game with a hamstring injury.  I expect Al Horford will once again get the start in his absence.  If Brown is out, I would guess that Sam Hauser starts in his place once again. 

For the Suns, Eric Gordon is questionable with a knee injury.  He was limited in practice on Wednesday and may miss his 2nd straight game.  Damion Lee remains out after meniscus surgery he underwent in October.  Josh Okogie will miss his 6th straight game with an abdomen injury.  Nassir Little is probable for this game after going through a full practice on Wednesday. 

Key Matchups
vs
Jrue Holiday vs Devin Booker
Booker missed the game in Phoenix but is back and ready to play in this one.  He is averaging 27.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 6.8 assists.  He is shooting 49.4% from the field and 37.4% from beyond the arc.   Over his career, he has averaged 26.8 points against the Celtics, including a TD Garden best 70 points on 3/24/17.  The Celtics need to defend him well because as they know from experience, he can put up a lot of points if left open. 

vs
Jayson Tatum vs Kevin Durant
Durant remains one of the best players in the league and is tough to cover and also is still a good defender.  He is averaging 28.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.3 blocks.   He is shooting 52.59% from the field and 42.5% from beyond the arc.  In the game in Phoenix he finished with 45 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1 steal.  He shot 69.2% from the field and 57.1% from beyond the arc.  The Celtics need to do a better job of defending him in this one. 

Honorable Mention
Derrick White vs Bradley Beal
Beal has played in just 36 of the Suns games so far this season due to an assortment of injuries.  He is averaging 18.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.  He is shooting 49.7% from the field and 37.7% from beyond the arc.  In the first game in Phoenix, Beal finished with 25 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists and 3 steals.   He shot 50% from the field and 60% from beyond the arc.  The Celtics need to do a better job of defending him in this game. 

Keys to the Game
Defense - Defense is always a key to winning.  The Celtics have a defensive rating of 110.4 (2nd) while the Suns have a defensive rating of 114.2 (13th).  The Suns are a good shooting team and the Celtics will need to up their defense if they want to beat the Suns at home.  The Suns are 12th, scoring 117.1 points per game and they shot 50.6% from the field in their first meeting.  They shoot a lot of midrange shots and so the Celtics need to defend those shots better.

Rebound - The Celtics need to rebound on the offensive end to give themselves extra possessions and to prevent the Suns from racking up fast break points.  They also have to crash the boards on the defensive end to prevent the Suns from getting tip ins and second chance points.  The Celtics are 1st with 47.2 rebounds per game while the Suns are 12th with 44.0 rebounds per game.  The Celtics are going to have to put out extra effort to win the battle of the boards in this one.

Be Aggressive - The Celtics have to come out and be aggressive right from the opening tip.  They have to be aggressive on defense, driving to the basket, rebounding, diving for loose balls and just playing harder in general.  They need to get off to a strong start and play hard right up until the final buzzer. They can't let the Suns outwork them for any period of time because even the best team in the league can lose to the worst if they don't play with effort.

Play Hard 48 Minutes -  The Celtics seem to have lapses where they let up on their effort and where they lose focus for awhile.   We saw what happens when they stay focused for 48 minutes and play hard the entire time against the Warriors. They allowed the Jazz to cut the Celtics lead to 2 before they built the lead back up.   They can't afford to let the Suns play harder than them for any period of time or they may not be able to recover.  They must come out ready to play right from the opening tip and they have to play hard and stay focused through all 4 quarters right up until the final buzzer. 

Home Game - The Celtics are back at home where they should get a boost from the home crowd.  They need to focus on the game and gain motivation from having the fans behind them. The first game at home after a road trip is always a tough game and so the Celtics need to stay focused and give 100% effort.   The Suns are playing in the 2nd game of a 4 game road trip and should be dealing with distractions from travel, staying in a hotel,  and playing in a hostile arena as well as fatigue from traveling.  The Celtics need to protect home court and come out ready to play hard. 

Injuries and Returns - The Celtics are once again without Kristaps Porzingis and they may be without Jaylen Brown.  The other starters and the reserves need to all play harder to make up for the absence of their teammates.  The Suns have Devin Booker back in their lineup and they were missing him in Phoenix.  He will make a big difference for them and so the Celtics have to be ready for him and up their defense. 

Officiating - I know that I say this every game,  but the officiating always has the possibility to be an x-factor in every game.  Every crew calls the game differently, whether they call every little ticky tack foul or they let a lot of contact go and let the teams play.  Some refs favor the home team and some call for both teams evenly.  The Celtics have got to adjust to the way the game is being called and not allow the officiating to take away from their focus. 

 

[Donoghus]

Go Celtics!!

[Vermont Green]

Should be a fun game.

[FLCeltsFan]

TP to   Donoghus and Vermont Green  for being the first to post in the game thread!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Celtics!!!

Beat the Suns!!!!

[celticinorlando]

First game back from a long road trip is always a clunker. Hope the Cs get their legs and have some bounces.

[jpotter33]

KP out yet again? Ugh. Do not like.

[Celtics2021]

KP out yet again? Ugh. Do not like.

Not great, as it means it’s a real hamstring as opposed to something precautionary, but the C’a can obviously take their time with him.  We’re going to win 60+ games, which is great.  That we’re going to do it with KP likely playing only in the mid-50s of games is the surprising thing.  Durability was a major concern, it’s proven to be correct, and we’re still dominating the league.  If you told me we were going to have an all-time level regular season, I would have assume that meant KP played 70+ games.

[SparzWizard]

KP out yet again? Ugh. Do not like.

Not great, as it means it’s a real hamstring as opposed to something precautionary, but the C’a can obviously take their time with him.  We’re going to win 60+ games, which is great.  That we’re going to do it with KP likely playing only in the mid-50s of games is the surprising thing.  Durability was a major concern, it’s proven to be correct, and we’re still dominating the league.  If you told me we were going to have an all-time level regular season, I would have assume that meant KP played 70+ games.

Just shut KP down till playoffs.

[trickybilly]

KP out yet again? Ugh. Do not like.

Not great, as it means it’s a real hamstring as opposed to something precautionary, but the C’a can obviously take their time with him.  We’re going to win 60+ games, which is great.  That we’re going to do it with KP likely playing only in the mid-50s of games is the surprising thing.  Durability was a major concern, it’s proven to be correct, and we’re still dominating the league.  If you told me we were going to have an all-time level regular season, I would have assume that meant KP played 70+ games.

Just shut KP down till playoffs.

Seriously. We still probably get 1 seed even going 500 from here

[celticinorlando]

KP needs to play about 2 or 3 games before the playoffs start to get his legs back. I think the Cs are being ultra careful with him. They know they can win a lot of these games with what the have.

Tonight will be tough. Long road trip. One day off from it. Suns have had 2 days off and been in Boston. I don't expect a Cs win tonight.

[Phantom255x]

Even if KP is dealing with a bigger hamstring issue, there's still 5 weeks until the playoffs. Plenty of time to rest up and let it heal to be as close to 100% as possible. We can afford that.

Once KP comes back, I expect Horford and others to also get some rest days and such. They'll rotate it. No one is threatening them for the #1 seed in both the East and NBA even.

I forgot what reporter (maybe Jay King?) but they did literally mention that the C's would use Tillman and Springer a lot more during the final stretch of the season which also implied more rest days and limiting some minutes down the stretch to stay fresh/healthy.

[Vermont Green]

PHX last played on Monday @CLE.  Celtics on Tuesday @UTA.  It is true that the first game back at home, after a road trip, is always a tough game, especially if we are down both Brown and Porzingis.  It is just one game though.  Just keep trying to play well, keep playing the right way.  Don't get too excited if we win by 50 or blow a 20 pt lead and lose.

As to Porzingis, obviously if he has any soreness at all in his hamstring, you don't play him.  Get it fully healed.  Then work him back into the line up, ramp up his minutes.  I don't see any need to rest him the rest of the season or anything like that.  Be more cautious with him than you would with most any other player, but you don't need to go overboard.  When he is ready, play him.

[celticinorlando]

This team needs to get through tonight and have a few days off before another back to back

[Celtics2021]

KP needs to play about 2 or 3 games before the playoffs start to get his legs back. I think the Cs are being ultra careful with him. They know they can win a lot of these games with what the have.

Tonight will be tough. Long road trip. One day off from it. Suns have had 2 days off and been in Boston. I don't expect a Cs win tonight.

My hope is he’s ready April 1st vs. the Hornets to get his legs back, then plays the 3rd and 5th vs. the Thunder and Kings, and against the Bucks the following week, so that he’s not rusty for the playoffs.  And then they can give him 10-11 days of rest before round 1 starts.

[Phantom255x]

Celtics could officially clinch an actual playoff spot (6 seed or higher) tonight with a win + some help