Jaylen Brown outduels Devin Booker as Celtics edge Suns, 120-112

Jaylen Brown regarded each bit the a part of an MVP candidate Monday night time at TD Backyard.

With the gang chanting “MVP” as he repeatedly marched to the free-throw line, Brown poured in 41 factors to steer the Boston Celtics previous the Phoenix Suns 120–112 in a back-and-forth affair. Devin Booker answered with 40 of his personal, turning the sport right into a extremely entertaining battle between two groups which have each outperformed expectations all season.

Suns surge early earlier than Celtics reply

The opening quarter featured a uneven rhythm, with frequent whistles and free throws slowing the movement of play.

Phoenix set the tone early with an aggressive defensive method out of the gates, pressuring the ball and leaping out to an early 8–0 lead. Boston regularly settled in, responding with defensive stops and starting to search out its offensive rhythm because the quarter progressed.

A late burst from the Celtics, sparked by typical vitality from the bench, helped erase the early deficit and briefly push Boston in entrance. Nonetheless, after one quarter the Suns held a 32–31 lead.

Boston flipped the momentum early within the second quarter.

Derrick White caught fireplace offensively, flattening a number of three-pointers throughout a fast scoring burst that pushed the Celtics again in entrance and compelled Phoenix to burn an early timeout. White completed the half with 19 factors, together with 4 three-pointers within the second quarter alone, serving to stabilize Boston’s offense.

The Celtics continued to maneuver the ball successfully all through the quarter, producing open perimeter appears to be like and attacking mismatches inside. Boston shot 13-for-21 within the second quarter to take a 65–61 halftime lead, whereas Devin Booker paced Phoenix with 19 factors and 4 assists within the opening half.

Booker was solely getting began.

Booker catches fireplace within the third

If the Celtics had been hoping the Suns would possibly cool off popping out of halftime, Devin Booker had different plans.

The Phoenix guard erupted within the third quarter, scoring 23 consecutive Suns factors throughout one stretch and repeatedly torching Boston from all three ranges. Pull-up threes, midrange jumpers, drives to the rim — it didn’t appear to matter what protection the Celtics threw at him.

At one level Booker had scored Phoenix’s final 21 factors, single-handedly maintaining the Suns inside placing distance as TD Backyard collectively braced for the following shot to fall.

However in contrast to many video games the place a scoring explosion flips the momentum solely, Boston saved answering.

The Celtics continued to maneuver the ball crisply on offense, producing open appears to be like across the perimeter whereas attacking mismatches inside. Payton Pritchard knocked down a pair of well timed three-pointers late within the quarter to maintain Boston in entrance regardless of Booker’s barrage.

By the tip of the third, Booker had piled up 35 factors, however the Celtics nonetheless carried a 91–86 lead into the ultimate quarter.

Brown closes the door within the fourth

The fourth quarter shortly changed into a tense back-and-forth battle.

Payton Pritchard helped Boston create early separation, drilling a deep 31-foot three-pointer early within the interval to push the Celtics’ result in 9 and ignite TD Backyard. However Phoenix refused to fade, getting well timed scoring from Jalen Inexperienced and a stunning burst from Haywood Highsmith, who knocked down a number of tough pictures to maintain the Suns inside placing distance.

Because the quarter progressed, the sport tightened. Devin Booker continued to hold the Suns offensively, ultimately reaching 40 factors, whereas Boston’s offense briefly stalled amid a stretch of turnovers that allowed Phoenix to surge forward halfway by way of the quarter.

With the strain mounting, Jaylen Brown took management.

Brown repeatedly attacked the paint and lived on the free-throw line, drawing loud “MVP” chants from the TD Backyard crowd as he stepped to the stripe many times. The chants solely grew louder because the clock wound down, significantly after Brown stripped Booker to spark a transition alternative that led to a straightforward end for Jayson Tatum.

Moments later, Brown cleaned up a miss on the rim to provide Boston the lead earlier than returning to the free-throw line as soon as once more to increase it.

Phoenix nonetheless had probabilities within the closing minute, however Booker missed a key free throw with 22 seconds remaining as Boston’s protection tightened down the stretch. The Celtics then performed keep-away within the closing seconds earlier than Jayson Tatum sealed the win from the free-throw line, permitting Boston to shut out a hard-fought 120–112 victory.

The victory strikes the Celtics to 45–23 on the season, maintaining them firmly within the combine close to the highest of the Japanese Convention standings because the common season enters its closing stretch.

Boston will return to motion Wednesday, March 18, when the Celtics host the Golden State Warriors at TD Backyard.