Suns-Celtics Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Jan 20 2012 3:16PM

The Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns each ended a five-game losing streak in their last contest.

One of these aging teams is guaranteed to make it two in a row Friday night, when the Celtics could be without Rajon Rondo as they host Steve Nash and the Suns.

Nash leads the league with 10.1 assists per game with Rondo second at 9.4.

That point guard matchup is unlikely to take place, however, since Rondo left Wednesday's 96-73 win over Toronto late in the third quarter with a right wrist injury after a flagrant foul by Linas Kleiza. Coach Doc Rivers said Thursday it is unlikely that Rondo will play.

The Celtics (5-8) will face a challenge to slow down the 37-year-old Nash, averaging 15.1 points and shooting 55.2 percent.

"You can see, you watch Steve play, I don't see where he's missed the beat," coach Alvin Gentry said. "I think he's playing as well as he did when he was MVP of the league. He's the guy that we count on to do almost everything for us offensively."

Rivers compared Nash to legendary boxer Muhammad Ali.

"With Nash you don't know what he is," Rivers told the Celtics' official website. "You don't know if he's a score-first, you don't know if he's a pass-first. He's almost like ... he reminds me of Ali. Every fight, is he going to do the rope-a-dope? Is he dancing? I mean, you don't know what he's doing."

If Rondo does not play, second-year guard Avery Bradley or rookie E'Twaun Moore will start.

These perennial contenders have fallen on hard times, enduring uncharacteristically long skids heading into play Wednesday. They ended them by taking advantage of similarly struggling teams.

Boston got 21 points from Rondo for its first victory since Jan. 4.

Phoenix (5-9), meanwhile, won for the first time since Jan. 8 with Wednesday's 91-88 victory at New York. Nash had 26 points and 11 assists against his former coach, Mike D'Antoni, and the Knicks.

"Right now, we could have beat anybody and it'd be sweet," Nash said. "It's been a tough year, we've had a tough stretch, so for us, any win is a huge relief and hopefully will give us some confidence and maybe get us going a little bit."

Nash and the 39-year-old Grant Hill are the elder statesmen of the Phoenix lineup. The 25-year-old Rondo is the only regular Celtics starter under 33.

The age has been a factor on offense. The Celtics average 90.2 points for one of the NBA's lowest marks while the Suns are in the middle of the pack at 93.9 after being in the top five in each of the previous seven seasons since Nash rejoined the club.

"I can't put my finger on the fact that we're struggling to get to 100 every game," Gentry said. "I thought that would be one of the areas where we'd have the least worries and it's become just the opposite."

These clubs split two meetings last season. Boston's Kevin Garnett averaged 23.0 points on 70.4 percent shooting and 10.0 boards while Phoenix's Marcin Gortat averaged 16.0 and 15.0.

Gortat scores 24 to lead Suns past Celts 79-71

By JIMMY GOLEN
Posted Jan 20 2012 10:55PM

BOSTON (AP) Marcin Gortat scored five straight Phoenix baskets early in the game. By the time the first quarter was over, he had 14 points and four rebounds.

"Midway through the first," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said, "he should have stopped and put his name on the (Hall of Fame) ballot."

Gortat finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Steve Nash had 11 points and nine assists to lead Phoenix to a 79-71 victory over Boston on Friday night. The Suns won their second straight road game, having snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Knicks on Wednesday.

"Steve put on a show, and people found me in the right spots," Gortat said. "We have to start winning. We tripped a couple of times at home. Now we need to make it up on the road."

Gortat, who was one short of his career high in points, helped the Suns jump to a 16-8 lead with 10 of the game's first 24 points, then he added a pair of layups at the end of the first.

The Celtics took a brief lead, 53-50, midway through the third quarter before Phoenix scored the next 12 points. After Mickael Pietrus hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to make it 76-71, Gortat lumbered down the lane and drew a foul from Kevin Garnett before sinking two free throws to clinch it.

It was Gortat's seventh consecutive double-double.

Ray Allen had 14 points and six rebounds for the Celtics, who lost for the sixth time in seven games and fell to 0-4 against the Western Conference. Playing without Rajon Rondo, their most consistent starter this year, the Celtics had their lowest-scoring game of the season.

"We should be better than that," Rivers said. "It's on me. If one guy doesn't play, you should be able to play through it."

Paul Pierce scored 12 points with six assists and Garnett had 10 points and five rebounds. Avery Bradley scored 10 points with four rebounds and one assist while filling in for Rondo, who was injured Wednesday night when he took a hard foul from Toronto's Linas Kleiza while going to the basket.

An MRI was negative. Rivers wouldn't put a timetable on Rondo's return, though the point guard was hoping to be back for Sunday's game against the Washington Wizards.

Keyon Dooling missed his fifth straight game with a right knee injury.

The Celtics finished with 20 assists - same as the Suns - but just four from three different players at the point.

"We didn't have our starting point guard. We didn't have our backup point guard," Rivers said, adding that he tried to run plays through Pierce, Garnett and Marquis Daniels. "I mean, we were just searching."

The Suns led by 11 at halftime. Boston went on a 14-2 run in the middle of the third quarter, taking a 53-50 lead on Pietrus' 3-pointer. With Boston still up by 3, the Suns scored 12 straight points to take a 64-55 lead early in the fourth.

Notes: Former Boston College star Jared Dudley scored 12 points in 19 minutes as a reserve for Phoenix. ... New England Patriots players Deion Branch and Patrick Chung took in the game from courtside. ... Boston C Jermaine O'Neal played in his 900th NBA game. ... With Rondo out, Garnett and Brandon Bass are the only Celtics to have played in every game this season. ... Boston snapped a five-game slide on Wednesday night. ... It was the Suns' first time winning consecutive road games all season. ... Allen had gone three straight games without scoring in double digits.

Notebook: Suns 79, Celtics 71

By Brian Robb, for NBA.com
Posted Friday January 20, 2012 11:58PM

THE FACTS: Marcin Gortat had a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds, helping the Phoenix Suns to muster enough offense to outlast the shorthanded Boston Celtics 79-71. Boston's offense looked lost for much of the evening without All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo, and the Suns took advantage to pull away in the fourth quarter, overcoming 21 turnovers for their second straight road victory. Both teams combined for 39 turnovers in the sloppy affair, plagued by missed open shots and a slow pace. Steve Nash commanded the Phoenix offense well during crunch time though and fell just short of a double-double with 11 points and nine assists. Ray Allen had a team-high 14 points for Boston, as the C's have now lost six of their last seven games.

QUOTABLE: "With [Rondo] out of the lineup it's going to change the team. I think Rondo makes the court open up, and puts pressure on the defense. Tonight we could close down the court and take away their space."
-- Nash on playing the C's without Rondo

THE STAT: Without their floor general in Rondo, Boston failed to attack the rim all night with regularity. The jump-shot heavy C's managed just two free throws in their 35-point first half, and finished with just nine attempts overall.

TURNING POINT: After surrendering the lead late in the third quarter, Phoenix rallied with an 8-0 spurt to close out the frame and claim a five-point lead. The Celtics, largely due to their inefficient offense, were unable to close that five-point gap at all over the remainder of the contest.

QUOTABLE II: " I mean, I told our guys this is more of me and our staff; we've got to figure out something with our offense. The offense is awful."
-- Celtics coach Doc Rivers

HOT: Gortat -- The Suns' big man caught fire in the first quarter and nearly outscored the Celtics by himself. Gortat tallied 14 points of his 24 points in the frame, on 7-of-11 shooting, while the hosts only managed 15 points over the opening 12 minutes.

NOT: E'Twaun Moore -- The rookie guard was pressed into extended action with Rondo sidelined, and failed to make the most of his opportunity. The former Purdue star hit only one of six attempts from the field, and has been ice cold lately, hitting just one of his past eleven shots during his last three games. Moore also turned the ball over three times and the Celtics were -8 while he was on the floor in a mere 12 minutes of action.

QUOTABLE III: "We're 4 or 5 games under .500, we'd like to be a lot better, but it is what it is. We just have to keep going back to the drawing board and get back to work, lace them up, and keep preparing. This is a group that's not going to lose any confidence. That's not going to put our heads down."
-- Paul Pierce

ROOKIE WATCH: Suns forward Markieff Morris saw his second career start at the power forward spot. Morris only played five minutes in his starting debut Wednesday night due to a stomach virus, but struggled to get comfortable within the Phoenix offense in his 20 minutes against Boston. The former Jayhawk went scoreless and turned the ball over four times on the night.

NOTABLE: Keyon Dooling (knee) and Chris Wilcox (calf) both missed their fourth straight game for Boston. Neither would address their condition with reporters before the contest, but both hope to action next week. Rondo remains day-to-day with a sore right wrist. The MRI on his wrist came back negative, and Rivers says he hopes to play Sunday against Washington. Avery Bradley earned his first career start in place of Rondo. He finished with 12 points. Along with Morris, Ronnie Price also saw a rare start, his third of the season, in place of Jared Dudley in the Suns new-look starting lineup. Alvin Gentry went with the Price and Morris for the second straight game in order to improve the team's defensive intensity and add more scoring to the bench unit. Phoenix outrebounded Boston 44-32. The 71 points for the C's were the lowest home point total the team has had since Allen and Kevin Garnett joined the team in 2007. Gortat finished one point short of his career-high.

UP NEXT: For the Suns, Monday @ Dallas, Tuesday vs. Toronto, Friday @ Portland. For the Celtics, Sunday @ Washington, Monday vs. Orlando, Thursday @ Orlando.

• Suns: --
• Celtics: Dooling, Wilcox

• Suns: --
• Celtics: --

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 3

• Arena: TD Garden, Boston, MA
• Officials: #57 Greg Willard, #60 James Williams, #70 Brent Barnaky
• Attendance: 18624
• Duration: 2:09