Because Devin Booker wasn’t playing, it was hard for the Phoenix Suns to beat the top-seeded Boston Celtics. In the end, they lost 117–107.
From the beginning of the first quarter on, the Suns were always behind and couldn’t get ahead.
They tried to come back, but they missed a lot of three-point shots and turned the ball over a lot.
Grayson Allen, who had previously made eight three-pointers in a row, failed to repeat his feat, missing all four attempts and finishing with just seven points and three mistakes. Additionally, Royce O’Neale had a bad night, missing all nine of his shots and five of his three-point tries.
The Suns made just 30.0% of their three-point shots as a team, making only 9 out of 30 shots. Phoenix shot 2-16 from deep when Durant and Beal were not on the court.
Only 15 points came from the bench, and 13 of those came from Bol Bol. Drew Eubanks, Eric Gordon, and Saben Lee all played 37 minutes, but they still couldn’t score at the end of the game.
The Suns would have been much further behind without Kevin Durant, who scored 45 points on 18-26 shooting, which was the highest score of the season.
Phoenix cut the lead to five points more than once, including early in the third quarter and again with less than four minutes left in the fourth. KD was, of course, at the front of these comebacks.
The Suns couldn’t get any closer, though, because they didn’t have much help and Jayson Tatum was on fire. Tatum scored 22 points in the second half.
It all changed when Eric Gordon missed a wide-open three-point shot. Al Horford then made one of his own, extending the Celtics’ lead to eight. Horford had not made a three-point shot from downtown before that.
The Suns’ next game is against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday at 4:30. It will be another tough one. Phoenix will be going on a four-game road trip starting today.
