PHOENIX — Jayson Tatum scored 29 points, Jaylen Brown added 27 and the NBA-leading Boston Celtics beat the Phoenix Suns 117-107 on Saturday night.
The Celtics entered the game on a rare two-game skid after losing games to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Denver Nuggets. After Saturday’s win, Boston has yet to lose three in a row and improved to 49-14 overall.
“We are not perfect. We try to be, we really try,” Tatum said. “But we make mistakes. It’s a tough league, the other teams are really good and have great players. It all depends on how you react.
“You want to be a special team, you have to do a good job responding.”
Tatum said the Celtics used Friday’s off day in Phoenix to recharge, playing 18 holes of golf and enjoying the sun and 70-degree desert temperatures. He said it helped the team reset and get back to winning ways.
“Today we bounced back in a positive way,” Tatum said.
The Suns – playing without injured All-Star Devin Booker – were led by season-high Kevin Durant with 45 points on 18-of-26 shooting. Bradley Beal added 25 points while Jusuf Nurkic scored 11 and took 11 rebounds.
“I just wanted to be aggressive, play through anything,” Durant said. “I managed to repel a few shots and loosen up the defense. We were there a few times, but they made big plays after timeouts.
Brown scored 18 points to lead the Celtics to a 62-50 halftime advantage and they never trailed in the second half.
The Suns fought back in the third quarter and Durant’s transition 3-pointer cut Boston’s lead to 77-74 with 3:54 left, but Jrue Holiday answered with a 3 and the Celtics took an 87 lead -78 in the last quarter.
Boston’s Payton Pritchard and Tatum hit back-to-back 3s to start the fourth. Al Horford nailed a corner 3-pointer with 1:54 left to give the Celtics a 110-102 lead.
The Celtics got good production from their bench – especially Luke Kornet and Pritchard. The 7-foot-1 Kornet had 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, while Pritchard scored 10.
“They were unbelievable, they were great,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I thought Payton was a game-changer with his defense.”
Boston starter Kristaps Porzingis missed the game with a right hamstring strain.
Booker missed his fourth straight game with a sprained ankle. The four-time All-Star is back on the court practicing as he nears his expected return.
“I thought we fought, I’m proud of the way we fought,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said. “I didn’t like how many loose balls we didn’t have early in the game – we needed to have more urgency against a team with the best record in the NBA. But I thought we caught up and got played a lively game for the rest of the match.
The Suns entered the game as the No. 6 team in the crowded Western Conference race and are trying to stay out of the playoff play-in tournament. The top six seeds in each conference automatically advance to the best-of-seven first round.
FOLLOWING
Celtics: At Portland on Monday.
Suns: At Cleveland on Monday.
——
APNBA:
