clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Phoenix Suns vs Boston Celtics Recap: Second verse, same as the first

The road trip continues and the Suns are still months removed from winning a game away from Phoenix. The Boston Celtics were far from impressive in their 87-79 win, but they didn't need to be all that good to beat the Suns.

Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

It's like watching the same movie over and over and over. The plot has changed a bit since early in the season when the Suns struggled to start the game and out of the half. Now they are starting the first and third quarters well but getting torched when the bench unit comes in and simply can't close out in the end.

Rinse. Lather. Repeat.

Are there any answers? Are there any more possible ways Alvin Gentry can tweak his rotations? Probably not. We might as well start giving some of those minutes to Kendall Marshall and Luke Zeller if for no other reason than to give us poor fools who watch this team something different to look at.

There are times, especially when the other team is lulled into laziness, when the Suns starters do a decent job running the offense. The ball can zip around a bit with Dudley and Scola providing nice interior passing that leads to some open shots.

Tucker, of course, works his tail off on both ends. But that's about all I got.

The second unit is a complete disaster.

Gentry gave Beasley some burn just because I guess he felt like he had to or why not. Beasley rewarded Gentry with statuesque defense and black hole offense that even all the neighborhood black holes were ashamed of. Did I forget to mention Shannon Brown? No.

The Suns did manage a 17-0 run to start the third but it felt like the Celtics were coasting more than the Suns were cruising. At some point around half way through the period they remembered they had to actually try a little bit and Boston quickly stemmed the tide and retook the lead before the Suns could separate.

The fourth quarter? Well, you've seen that before. Fill in the blanks. The only difference was Gentry's benching of his bench but the starters getting more minutes didn't change the outcome.

Next up, Brooklyn Nets on Friday. In Brookyln. What could go wrong?

Visit CelticsBlog to hear how horrible their team is playing and remind them what horrible really looks like.


Final - 1.9.2013 1 2 3 4 Total
Phoenix Suns 24 17 23 15 79
Boston Celtics 23 30 14 20 87

Complete Coverage >


Suns vs Bucks boxscore

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for the Bright Side of the Sun Daily Roundup newsletter!

A daily roundup of Phoenix Suns news from Bright Side of the Sun