With 45 combined points and dominant play throughout their matchup against Monty Williams’ Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics stars Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum led the Celtics to a 99-85 win over the Suns despite Phoenix battling hard and refusing to give in when Boston built a sizable lead.
Walker sliced and diced his way through the defense while Tatum, who had been struggling from the field entering the game, knocked down 50% of his field goals and got to the paint consistently with a series of nifty moves.
The Suns, looking much more competitive than they have in past seasons even without star big man Deandre Ayton, got great minutes from All-Star guard Devin Booker (20 points) and a cutting Kelly Oubre Jr. (15 points) but outside of them, Phoenix struggled to score effectively.
Their defense was unimpressive against Boston despite holding the Celtics to 99 points as the starters were able to pick them apart with 22 assists on 37 field goals.
However, Boston was able to notch 13 steals on the night with eight of those steals coming from the bench. The Celtics’ second unit still struggled to score with 23 total points but defensively, they created chaos behind the play of second-year guard Brad Wanamaker (three steals), second-year center Robert Williams III (two steals and one block) and rookie forward Grant Williams (two blocks).
After receiving a DNP against the Dallas Mavericks, Williams would play 18 minutes against the Suns with Celtics head coach opting to lean on his defense over starting center Enes Kanter’s offense (Kanter would only play five minutes). With Kanter’s return looking as if it might force Williams out of the rotation, his showing against the Suns was timely and a quick reminder as to why Boston drafted him.
He makes winning plays, even if they don’t all show up in the box score.
Boston’s next matchup is against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.
