NBA 2018-19: 3 Takeaways from the Boston Celtics' loss to the Phoenix Suns
The Boston Celtics who had started to turn around their mediocre start to the season are now on a two-game losing streak. They lost Wednesday night to the lowly Phoenix Suns. The score was 111-103. The Celtics offense stalled in the second half. After scoring 62 first-half points for a 62-59 lead they only managed 41 second-half points and 18 in the third quarter.
The Suns got 23 points and 18 rebounds from DeAndre Ayton. They also got 21 points from T.J. Warren and 25 points and 8 assists for Devin Booker. For the Celtics, Kyrie Irving recorded a double-double with 29 points and 10 assists. The Celtics also got 18 points from Jayson Tatum and 12 points apiece from Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart.
Aron Baynes fractured the left fourth metacarpal and will be out indefinitely. The injury happened on a turnover when Kyrie Irving knocked the ball loose from Devin Booker and Baynes sort of got tangled with DeAndre Ayton in the scramble to claim the loose ball. With no real center presence on the floor for the Celtics. Here are three talking points from tonight's game.
#1 Offensive rebounding
The Phoenix Suns had a real advantage in this game. With Al Horford already missing time due to knee inflammation the Celtics lost Aron Baynes after just 2:02 of playing time. With no real interior threat offensively or defensively, the Suns dominated the glass and especially the offensive glass.
The Suns recorded 21 offensive rebounds. DeAndre Ayton had 8 offensive boards out of 18 that he recorded in this game. The Suns also got at least 1 offensive rebound from all 8 men they played.
With Baynes now out indefinitely and Horford dealing with knee problems, the Celtics will have to rely on Robert Williams III. The 6’10 C/PF in his rookie season will be relied upon to anchor Boston’s defense and tonight was a bad night for him to be pressed into action. Williams played 24 minutes scoring 8 points and grabbed 8 rebounds but was a -13 for the game.