Celtics knock off Suns

The make/miss gods had some mercy on the Celtics on Friday.

Their confidence intact despite a historically bad 4-for-42 3-point shooting performance during Wednesday’s loss to the Clippers, the Celtics rebounded with a 123-108 win over Phoenix, snapping a three-game losing streak.

The Suns, tied with Golden State for the most wins (27) in the league, fell behind early thanks to a 3-point barrage from the Celtics, who were boosted by a 9-for-17 downtown performance in the first half.

Rob Williams, his passing skills on display, notched his first career triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists — the latter number tying a career high. Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart (24 points apiece) led an offensive attack that placed seven Celtics in double figures.

Romeo Langford beat the third-quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer for a 100-77 Celtics lead. Grant Williams had also helped the cause with seven straight points down the third-quarter stretch, offsetting eight points from the Suns’ Elfrid Payton in the last 3:06 of the quarter.

But Payton immediately struck again, opening the fourth quarter with a drive, and with 7:13 left the Celtics lead had dwindled to 15 points, and then 14 on a Chris Paul jumper with 6 minutes left.

Devin Booker extended the Suns run to 9-2, and cut the Celtics edge to 107-95, with two free throws with 5:19 left.

Baskets from Brown, Josh Richardson and Smart offset Phoenix scoring over the next two minutes — the latter with a drive for a 113-99 edge with 3:32 left. Rob Williams blocked his fourth shot, and with 2:47 left Brown hit for a 115-99 lead.

Paul answered from downtown, and Smart, fouled with 2:13 left, hit twice from the line for a 117-102 lead.

After the horrible performance from downtown in Wednesday’s loss to the Clippers, the feeling had to be liberating for the Celtics in the process of their 9-for-17 3-point performance in the first half against the Suns.

Rob Williams took great advantage of Deandre Ayton’s absence, nearly reaching a triple-double with his eight-point, 10-rebound, eight-assist half as the Celtics shot their way to a 67-41 halftime lead after leading by as many as 30 points.

The Suns got off to a better start in the third quarter, cutting the Celtics lead to 77-64 with an early 18-6 run. But Smart contributed a pair of drives to an 8-0 run that pushed the lead back out to 21 points, and with the aid of seven straight points from Grant Williams and a buzzer-beating 3 from Langford, the Celtics carried a 100-77 lead into the fourth quarter.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3EO2ybL