The Celtics finish a 1-3 road trip with a predictable loss at Phoenix, which dominated throughout.
Boston will get a much-needed two-day rest before hosting Toronto on Saturday at TD Garden. Until then, they can look at a few of these numbers:
– Boston shot 42.2 percent from the floor, while Phoenix finished at a 50.6 percent clip.
– Eddie House led the C’s with 19 points. None of the five starters had more than 15 and they made just 1-of-11 3-pointers as a bunch.
– Kendrick Perkins and Shelden Williams combined to go 7-of-15 from the line.
Glen Davis may return Saturday but Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett will be sidelined, leveling the field against the Raptors. We will be courtside for that one so be sure to follow along.
Fourth quarter, 40 seconds, Suns 116-98: Leandro Barbosa’s two free throws gives the Suns the highest scoring output for a Celtics opponent this season. The last time a team reached 120 against Boston was St. Patrick’s Day when the Chicago Bulls hung 127 on the C’s.
Fourth quarter, 2:40, Suns 112-95: My mistake earlier in forgetting about Bill Walker, who has just entered his second game of the season.
Fourth quarter, 3:49, Suns 110-91: Shelden Williams picks up a technical foul here in garbage time, although it was a very questionable whistle.
Fourth quarter, 5:27, Suns 108-85: Nice to see J.R. Giddens confidently stick a jumper from the baseline. It is just the fourth basket of the season for Giddens.
By the way, Phoenix is a sure bet to surpass 113 points, the previous high for a Celtics opponent this season.
Fourth quarter, 6:11, Suns 106-83: Brian Scalabrine fouls out, leaving Boston with nine healthy players. You figure Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Kendrick Perkins are done for the night, so Lester Hudson is the only other Celtic we will see.
Fourth quarter, 6:50, Suns 104-83: Doc Rivers has put up the white flag with the insertion of J.R. Giddens.
Fourth quarter, 7:36, Suns 102-83: Eddie House has been one of the few bright spots for the Celtics tonight and is now locked in a shootout with Channing Frye.
The pair have combined to make 11-of-18 3-pointers.
On a side note, it seems as if he always has his haters among the Celtics fan base, but Rajon Rondo will endear himself to a few more over these next few games with more efforts like this one.
Now clearly hurting Rondo has gutted his way through a pretty solid second half. He’ll have to suck it up a bit more until the C’s return to health.
Fourth quarter, 10:10, Suns 95-78: Jared Dudley and Eddie House exchange 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter.
End of third quarter, Suns 90-73: Without Kevin Garnett available you figured the Suns big men would have a chance at a big night.
It was Amare Stoudemire early and it’s Channing Frye here late. Frye scored 10 points in the third quarter and has hit five of Phoenix’s seven 3-pointers.
We’re not far from J.R. Giddens and Lester Hudson time as this one is just about out of reach.
Third quarter, 3:28, Suns 80-63: Not a good night so far for Rasheed Wallace, especially when you consider how much he is needed. He has lost both Channing Frye and Amare Stoudemire on the defensive end from time to time and has done little on the other end.
His airball moments ago is part of a 3-of-9, six-point performance.
Third quarter, 4:21, Suns 79-59: The stay on the bench lasts just minutes for Rajon Rondo as he returns with the Celtics down 20.
Third quarter, 5:00, Suns 75-57: Rajon Rondo looks a bit pained on a few plays here in the second half and is pulled in favor of Eddie House.
We’ll see if Rondo’s night is done. Trainer Ed Lacerte is talking with him right now and appears to be working the muscle so that Rondo can return.
Third quarter, 6:28, Suns 70-55: It felt as if the C’s might have a push in them but it’s the Suns who take charge.
Channing Frye hits a wide-open 3-pointer as Phoenix matches its largest lead of the contest. Frye is now 4-of-7 from long range.
Third quarter, 6:59, Suns 66-55: The Celtics are doing a great job of just keeping themselves within shouting distance and you get the sense that if they can just put together a little run here their confidence will soar.
Then again, a depleted bunch at the end of a long trip may not have the energy to stay with the frenetic Suns.
Third quarter, 9:19, Suns 62-53: The Celtics appropriately look for Kendrick Perkins to take the ball inside at Amare Stoudemire and Perkins has responded with a pair of hoops.
As an aside, we have not addressed Rajon Rondo’s play as of yet. It’s hard to tell if his hamstring is bothering him as there doesn’t appear to be any limping and he still looks like the fastest player on the court.
But Rondo has had a few indecisive possessions and has an ugly line to show for it. He has four points and three turnovers in 19 minutes.
Third quarter, 11:30, Suns 61-49: The Celtics get a gift to open the third quarter as Amare Stoudemire picks up his fourth foul in the first few seconds.
Alvin Gentry has chosen to stick with Stoudemire for the time being.
Halftime, Suns 61-49: The second quarter ends on a miserable note for the Celtics and the anger was visible on the face of Doc Rivers right there.
After a long miss by Channing Frye the Suns grab their eighth offensive rebound of the game and convert to take a 12-point lead into the locker room.
Phoenix ends the half shooting 51.1 percent while Boston is just 17-of-44 (38.6 percent) from the floor.
Back in a bit to see if the C’s can mount any sort of challenge in the second half. Unless someone steps up on defense it’s not likely.
Second quarter, 48.9 seconds, Suns 54-45: There have been two chances for the Celtics to get even closer here but both Ray Allen and Tony Allen have messed it up.
Ray Allen first gets into the lane and rather than pull up, tries an impossible scoop shot that misses. The other Allen then blows a 2-on-1 with an obvious charge when he had Rajon Rondo open on his side.
Second quarter, 2:24, Suns 51-42: Eddie House just gave the Celtics some great minutes, providing plenty of scoring and holding his own against Steve Nash.
Rajon Rondo has replaced him and immediately draws a foul on Nash.
Second quarter, 3:22, Suns 49-39: Eddie House hits a 3-pointer and the Celtics get within nine points, making a run with Amare Stoudemire on the bench.
But somehow Kendrick Perkins finds a way to pick up a technical foul on his way to the bench, tying teammate Rasheed Wallace for the NBA lead with 10.
Second quarter, 4:58, Suns 46-32: If the Celtics are going to make a run at this thing they may have an opportunity here after Amare Stoudemire leaves with his third foul.
If Boston can get within 10 or so at half there will be a pulse.
Second quarter, 5:32, Suns 44-30: Grant Hill takes a finger to the eye from Tony Allen and is taken to the bench.
More importantly, to everyone but Hill, Amare Stoudemire has returned for the last few minutes of the half, trying to build on his 18-point explosion early on.
Second quarter, 5:53, Suns 44-30: Leandro Barbosa beats the shot clock with a bomb from 30 feet out, a sure sign this is the Suns’ night.
Seconds later Rasheed Wallace tries to force a pass to Ray Allen that is easily swiped. The Suns then get two offensive rebounds on the ensuing possession.
These are mistakes the C’s cannot make if they want to hang around.
Second quarter, 7:15, Suns 41-28: With such a large early deficit it’s imperative the Celtics get something going from the outside, but they have made just one of their first eight 3-point attempts.
Second quarter, 9:31, Suns 36-21: The C’s have scored nine points in the last 10:47, but it is an utter lack of defense that has forced Doc Rivers into calling another timeout.
Louis Amundson sneaks in for an easy offensive rebound and a putback, moments after Robin Lopez did the same.
That won’t make Rivers happy.
Amundson and Lopez, together with Steve Nash and Jared Dudley, give the Suns a lot of creative hair-dos.
End of first quarter, Suns 30-20: A little 6-0 run by the Celtics near the end of the first quarter makes it a little tighter, but we may be witnessing a career night for Amare Stoudemire.
Stoudemire’s career high is 50 points, accomplished in 2005 against Portland. He had 18 on 9-of-10 shooting in the first quarter.
If that’s not an indication of how much Kevin Garnett is missed, I don’t know what is.
First quarter, 1:22, Suns 28-18: Rajon Rondo’s finger roll is the Celtics first basket in six minutes, 30 seconds.
First quarter, 2:32, Suns 26-14: This might be a game where we get to see Shelden Williams and Brian Scalabrine come in and use up every foul they have on Amare Stoudemire.
Stoudemire has made all seven of his shots and has made it look easy, due in large part to Steve Nash finding him in great spots.
Scalabrine is on Stoudemire out of the break.
First quarter, 3:04, Suns 26-14: Tony Allen gets to the line to break a nearly five-minute scoreless drought for the Celtics, but Amare Stoudemire answers seconds later.
First quarter, 5:20, Suns 20-12: The Celts have had no answer early on for Amare Stoudemire, who has 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting.
Rasheed Wallace has been defending Stoudemire and looking very much like his elder.
First quarter, 6:58, Suns 16-12: The Suns bury their first two 3-pointers to force Doc Rivers to call a timeout. They are 7-of-11 early on.
On another note, defenders are backing off more and more from Tony Allen when he gets the ball on the perimeter.
If anyone saw one of his bricks on Christmas Day against Orlando they would know why. It seems as if his already shaky shot has become shakier.
First quarter, 8:31, Celtics 10-8: Nice balance early on for the Celtics as four players provide the team’s first eight points.
But stops have already been tough to come by on the other end. We may see at least one team in the 120s tonight.
First quarter, 11:55, 0-0: We are underway from U.S. Airways Center, where the Celtics are up against it.
This is one of those gut-check games that may serve as a benchmark if it ends on a positive note, or can drive Boston into a deeper funk as it heads home for the New Year.
At the very least, the C’s have had great success with yours truly following the action. They are 22-3 in games I have covered, 1-4 in those I’ve missed. I’m sure the Suns are aware of that, and will plan accordingly.
8:40 p.m.: Kevin Garnett will, in fact, be out for this one but Rajon Rondo is in the lineup, giving the Celtics 60 percent of their usual starting five.
Rondo will team up with Ray Allen, Tony Allen, Rasheed Wallace and Kendrick Perkins in a makeshift lineup against the league’s most explosive offense.
The Suns — who lead the league in points per game (109.8), field goal percentage (49.6) and 3-point percentage (42.2) and rank second in 3-pointers per game (9.6) — start Steve Nash, Jason Richardson, Grant Hill, Amare Stoudemire and Channing Frye.
All season Doc Rivers has pinpointed the C’s inability to stop dribble-drive penetration as one of the team’s greatest issues, creating loads of 3-point opportunities for the opponents.
That was the case the first time these two teams met, when Richardson buried 6-of-7 from the arc. Richardson has averaged 21.1 points in his career against Boston, more than all but three other teams. Look for Tony Allen to mark him often.
Boston looked miserable early in its only game without Garnett this season when they slept through the first half of a home game against Indiana before erupting after the break. Paul Pierce spearheaded the late burst, but we know he won’t be there to stop the bleeding against the Suns. A strong start is critical.
4:40 p.m.: An update from the Celtics’ blossoming injury front and it’s not a good one.
According to Comcast SportsNet, Doc Rivers said at today’s shootaround that there is a chance that Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo will sit against Phoenix.
Garnett missed a win over Indiana last week with what the team termed a bruised right thigh. Rondo tweaked a hamstring in Monday’s loss at Golden State. The C’s are already without Paul Pierce (knee) and Glen Davis (ankle) for this one.
While Tony Allen has played well since returning from ankle surgery, the thought of he and Eddie House squaring off with Steve Nash is likely not a pleasing one to Celtics fans. We will update you when we know more.
12:00 p.m.: While Christmas was nice, the holiday season as a whole has not been kind to the Celtics.
In addition to the loss of Paul Pierce — likely out until the new year with a right knee injury — there was the end of a long road winning streak, the beginning of an unlikely road losing streak, an ankle injury for Glen Davis, a hamstring tweak for Rajon Rondo and a big man spat between Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins.Seemingly everyone has had their issues as 2009 comes to a close, as the C’s are just 3-3 in their last six games.
Now they must face the first team to defeat them this season in Phoenix, which is 12-2 at home and just knocked off the league-leading Los Angeles Lakers.
The Suns made 13 of 24 3-pointers in a 110-103 win at the TD Garden on Nov. 6. Jason Richardson scored a season-high 34 points, making six of seven from beyond the arc for Phoenix. He has torn apart Boston in several previous meetings.
Rondo, who had 30 points and 15 assists in Monday’s loss at Golden State, should be good to go in his marquee matchup with Steve Nash. Davis is likely out.
It is the finale of a trying four-game road trip for Boston and we will be following it all right here so check in before the 9:00 p.m. tip.
