That was the best team in the West? The Boston Celtics utterly destroyed the best team of the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns, in an uncompetitive blowout by winning the game 125-98.
That was a slaughter of extraordinary proportions. The Boston Celtics and the Phoenix Suns came into that game last night as the two best teams in all of the NBA, with the Celtics being the best from the East (and overall) and the Suns sitting as the best team in the Western Conference. The grounds for a great, engaging matchup. Right?
WRONG! There’s no doubt now that only one of these teams is a true ‘contender’ for the NBA championship as the Boston Celtics blew the breaks off the Suns in Phoenix’s own house…without ever coming out of second gear. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown showed once again that they have grown out of their ‘young studs’ label and have become true NBA franchise superstars as they took over that game with ease.
Both leading the Celtics in scoring, Tatum (25 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST) and Brown (25 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST) led the Celtics offense in not only the glorified aspects (i.e.: scoring, assisting), but also the ‘dirty’ areas of the game such as picks, screens, etc. Something unheard of for such important players.
The loss to the Golden State Warriors in humiliating fashion in The Finals last season has really changed the duo as they are far more efficient with their shots, careful with their passes, and smarter with the offensive possessions.
It’s truly remarkable how much they have grown up in the space of a few months, which has in turn allowed this entire team to mature along with them.
Grant Williams (14 PTS, 6 REB), Luke Kornet (12 PTS, 4 REB, 3 AST), Payton Prichard (7 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST), and many others have developed into impact role players who have the capability of starting a game for the C’s and putting in a ‘A+’ performance on a consistent basis, while the additions of Malcolm Brogdon (16 PTS, 3 REB, 5 AST) and Blake Griffin (9 PTS, 9 REB, 1 AST) have solidified the Celtics need for depth scoring and rebounding.
The Suns had no answers for the Celtics offense as guys like Williams, Smart, Prichard, Kornet, Brown, Tatum, etc. were either able to drive to the rim with ease, or they would find themselves in wide-open positions behind the arc to make 3’s. Devin Booker (17 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST), the Suns best guard, almost fouled out in the first half trying to stop Brown, Smart, and Williams from scoring, which shows how effective these players have become.
I mean, you don’t score 128 points against the league’s second-best team if you aren’t a great scoring team.
Nevertheless, this win just proves that the Celtics (21-5) are currently in a league of their own atop the NBA standings. I really hope nothing bad happens to this team between now and the start of the playoffs as if the C’s continue to play as well as they are, then they’re the easy favorites for the title.
As for the Suns (16-9), last night was probably just a really off night as Chris Paul (4 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST) only played 24 minutes in his return, Booker almost fouled out, and the Suns just seemed out of sync from the tip-off. Still, if they continue to lose games like this, then they’ll find it difficult to stay atop the West.
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