Phoenix s’offre Boston au TD Garden

Two months ago, it was still the poster between the two best teams in the league but, since then, water has flowed under the bridges, because the Suns dropped in the standings due to various injuries. Still holding the best record in the NBA, the Celtics they have not weakened in the meantime but, this night, they still suffered the law of their visitors (106-94).

While waiting for Devin Booker’s return, scheduled for next week, it’s Mikal Bridges (25 points) who continued to guide the attack of Phoenix in this encounter with Chris Paul (15 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds) and Deandre Ayton (14 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists) in support. Responding at the same time to Jaylen Brown (27 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals) and Jayson Tatum (20 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists), productive but clumsy in the camp of Boston.

A valuable victory in the standings for the Arizona franchise, which finds the Top 6 in the West, while the C’s bow for the fourth time in six games, especially seeing Milwaukee or Philadelphia blow them more and more in neck.

WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER

— Delicate evening for Boston. Like their leaders Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who admittedly accumulated 47 points, but only 12/36 in shooting (including 6/22 from 3-pointers), the Celtics experienced a game that was complicated to say the least in offensive. Evidenced by their address of 39% (and 26% from afar) or their 15 lost balls (which cost 16 points behind) for 18 assists, as they came out of an offensive card against the Nets. The Suns’ defensive efforts had something to do with it, but the C’s also missed quite a few open shots, which kept them chasing the score most of the night. And lose…

— Phoenix did not panic. Leading by 20 points in the second quarter (53-33), the Suns nevertheless saw the Celtics finish the first half strong (11-4), before continuing their momentum in the second, to come back to to a small point at the end of the third quarter (72-71). But Monty Williams’ men, boosted by the success of Damion Lee or Dario Saric, did not panic and attacked the last act with a 14-2, to finally control this lead until the end, in the wake of their new “go-to-guy” Mikal Bridges. A success torn off with forceps and reassuring for the rest of the “road-trip” to the East.

TOPS/FLOPS

✅ Mikal Bridges. Leader of this Suns collective who was also able to rely, in sequence, on Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton but also Dario Saric (14 points, 13 rebounds) and Damion Lee (11 points), the winger as often proved invaluable to his team. Both to launch it in the first quarter, to help Phoenix hold the shock and resist in the third, or to hoist his teammates on his shoulders and repel the Celtics’ comeback attempt in the fourth. By the way, you could almost say that Devin Booker’s injury was a blessing in disguise, as Bridges gained confidence and confidence.

✅ Derrick White. To best compensate for the skill problems of his “Jay’s” teammates, the Celtics back scored 19 points and he was above all the only one to do well in terms of his shot (6/12, including 2/4 to 3-point). Also aggressive to pick up fouls and points on the line (5/6 on throws) or to hinder Chris Paul as much as possible, Derrick White shone in the shadows and was consistent, which however did not masked all of Boston’s difficulties.

⛔ The Boston Bench. When Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown live a more complicated evening in scoring, it is necessary that the second knives of the Celtics respond present, especially when the rotation is reduced (still no Marcus Smart). Except that, as far as the Celtic substitutes are concerned (Grant Williams in the lead), this was not the case this night: 19 points (against 36 opposite), sometimes very alarming “+/-” and a feeling of quite striking impotence. Especially when the Suns pulled off this run fatal to Joe Mazzulla’s men at the start of the fourth quarter. Mention, too, for Al Horford (3 points, 1/6…).

THE FOLLOWING

Boston (37-16) : trip to Detroit, on the night of Monday to Tuesday (01:00).

Phoenix (28-26) : “back-to-back” in Detroit, on the night of Saturday to Sunday (01:00).

Boston / 94 Shots Bounces Players Min Shots 3pts LF O D T Pd Fte Int Bp Ct +/- Pts Eval J. Tatum 38 3/15 3/10 11/12 0 6 6 5 3 0 2 0 +1 20 16 A. Horford 31 1/6 1/6 0/0 2 7 9 1 3 0 2 0 +6 3 6 R. Williams III 30 3/4 0/0 0/0 0 7 7 4 3 0 2 3 +5 6 17 D. White 35 6/12 2/4 5/6 1 4 5 1 2 0 2 0 -6 19 16 J. Brown 39 9/21 3/12 6/9 0 8 8 4 3 3 2 0 -5 27 25 G. Williams 22 0/2 0/1 0/0 0 3 3 1 3 1 1 0 -24 0 2 J. Jackson 1 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 S. Hauser 1 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -2 0 0 L. Cornet 9 1/1 0/0 2/2 0 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 +1 4 4 M. Brogdon 22 5/12 0/3 2/2 0 4 4 1 1 1 2 0 -28 12 9 P. Pritchard 12 1/2 1/2 0/0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 -8 3 3 29/75 10/38 26/31 3 40 43 18 21 5 14 3 94 98

Phoenix / 106 Shots Bounces Players Min Shots 3pts LF O D T Pd Fte Int Bp Ct +/- Pts Eval D. Saric 30 5/13 4/7 0/0 3 10 13 3 3 0 1 0 +8 14 21 T. Craig 19 1/3 0/1 0/0 2 3 5 0 4 1 1 1 -5 2 6 M. Bridges 38 9/20 0/3 7/7 0 2 2 3 4 0 0 0 -10 25 19 D. Ayton 35 7/13 0/0 0/1 2 8 10 5 2 0 3 1 -6 14 20 C. Paul 35 6/15 1/5 2/3 0 6 6 8 3 1 0 1 -4 15 21 I. Wainright 31 3/11 3/8 0/0 1 5 6 0 3 1 0 2 +13 9 10 J. Political 12 4/8 0/3 1/1 2 5 7 3 1 0 0 1 +18 9 16 D. Lee 27 3/8 3/4 2/2 0 4 4 4 0 2 1 0 +30 11 15 S. Lee 13 3/4 1/1 0/0 0 0 0 2 2 1 2 0 +16 7 7 41/95 12/32 12/14 10 43 53 28 22 6 8 6 106 135