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The Celtics continue their five-game road trip with a Thursday night game against the Phoenix Suns. The Celtics will be coming off two straight losses against Indiana and Denver. After these two loses, the critics are back, questioning the current state of the Celtics by overreacting to a 6-4 start to the season.
The Suns have started their season out as most thought they would at 2-8. They have been settled in at home for the past four with this being their fifth straight home game. Suns give up 113.8 points per game, so look for the Celtics to find the shots they want. This could be great timing for this team to spark something on offense after not maintaining balance so far this season.
Devin Booker is once again the focal point in this game as he leads the Suns in scoring this season at 24.9 ppg. He memorably scored 70 points on the Celtics last season in Boston. The team needs to make sure his scoring does not get out of hand because outside of him, not many other players can take over the game like that.
Another player to enjoy/worry about is DeAndre Ayton. The first overall pick is another big that could dominate the small ball lineups thrown out by Stevens. Aron Baynes could get a few extra minutes to counteract the dominant inside play expected from Ayton.
The injuries for the Celtics will be Daniel Theis who will be out with a foot injury. For the Suns, T.J. Warren is questionable for this game with back spasms.
The starters will be the same from the game in Denver. Hopefully the bench will be able to get some big minutes in this game. The Celtics need to win this game convincingly with a back-to-back in Utah on Friday night.
Projected Starters
PG - Kyrie Irving – Isaiah Canaan
SG - Jaylen Brown – Devin Booker
SF - Gordon Hayward – Trevor Ariza
PF - Jayson Tatum – Ryan Anderson
C - Al Horford – DeAndre Ayton
Injuries
Boston – Daniel Theis (Foot); Jabari Bird (Personal)
Phoenix- TJ Warren (Back)
How to Watch
Time - 9:00 PM EST
TV – NBC Sports Boston