Celtics Dry Up in Phoenix, Shrivel to Suns

After knocking off the Blazers last night, the Celtics came out flat in tonight's contest against the Suns, losing 88-71.

Boston shot just 34.2 % from the field and connected on only 2 of their 18 attempts from deep, both courtesy of "Sugar Ray" Allen. The C's made just 65.2% of their foul shots and got out-rebounded 45-40 and out-assisted 23-14.

The Suns jumped out to an early lead, dominating the opening frame 30-16. Boston was never able to come back and trailed by double-digits for the majority of the game.

Kevin Garnett was the lone shining star for the Celts, netting 18 points on 7-13 shooting, while pulling down nine boards. Allen and Paul Pierce combined to shoot just 8-23 from the field. For the first time in as long as I can remember, Rajon Rondo recorded more turnovers (7) than assists (6).

Marcin Gortat, recently acquired from the Magic had a career night coming off the bench. Gortat tallied 19 points on 8-13 shooting and 17 rebounds.

Fellow newcomers Vince Carter and Mickael Pietrus reached double digits as well, netting 17 and 11 points respectively. Steve Nash proved again why he is one of the best PG's in the league, scoring 13 points while dishing out 10 dimes.

Honestly, I think the Celtics just came out flat. It happens every once in awhile. I'm not even going to get into the whole Doc and KG incident. This is like when a team plays so bad, you just throw out the tape.

Shots that usually go down weren't going down. Balls that usually bounced one way were bouncing the other. It happens. I for one would rather it be tonight than Sunday afternoon against L.A.

With the loss, Boston drops to 35-11, while Phoenix improves to 21-24. The C's and Lakers will face off at 3:30 for the first time since last year's NBA Finals.