Kristaps Porzingis, Jaylen Brown and MVP candidate Jayson Tatum lead the Boston Celtics, who have the NBA's best record, into Footprint Center on Saturday night to take on the Phoenix Suns, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. The game will be televised in front of a national audience on ABC.
Beal is someone who will be an important player in this game. The three-time All-Star will play point guard if the Suns take the floor without Devin Booker, who has a right ankle sprain. Booker is officially listed as questionable with the injury after he participated in Friday's practice.
“I think Bradley Beal, the last two games, has done a phenomenal job organizing us,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said after the team's 120-113 win over the Toronto Raptors on Thursday. “A lot of talk about us not having a point guard, he’s doing a great job playing point guard for us, like leading our team and quarterbacking. There’s also not a lot of point guards around the league that can touch the paint the way he can touch the paint. He had eight assists tonight; could have a lot more with guys making more shots, but he’s doing.”
Beal, who is in his first year with the Suns, had 20 drives in the Raptors game along with eight assists. His rim pressure is benefitting Phoenix's offense ahead of the game versus the Celtics.
Boston is on pace to be a top-five team, record-wise, in the past decade. If the Celtics eclipse the 65-win mark, they'll have a 70 percent chance to win the NBA Finals based on historical precedent.
Here is a preview of tonight's thriller in Phoenix.
Devin Booker's status looms large
The Suns beating the team with basketball's best record could be contingent on whether they will have their best player available, Booker. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard, who has actually been Phoenix's lead ball-handler without Beal in the lineup this season, suffered a right ankle sprain last week in Phoenix's 118-109 loss to the Houston Rockets.
The Suns are 6-6 overall without Booker this season, including 2-1 in their last three games. His absence always looms large for Phoenix offensively, but would be especially detrimental against a team like the Celtics, who regularly switch across four positions in hopes of keeping the ball out of the paint and avoiding defensive rotations.
If Booker can't go, expect Royce O'Beal to start in his place. The veteran forward is a smart, versatile defender who's shot the long ball well since the Suns acquired him at the trade deadline, though doesn't come close to compensating for Booker's rare exploits as a one-on-one scorer and all-around shot-creator for himself and his teammates.
Star power from each team is evident
The Celtics upgraded tremendously over the offseason, bringing in Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday in a pair of blockbuster trades.
Boston has elite quartet of current or former All-Stars with Holiday and Porzingis joining Tatum and Brown. Veteran guard Derrick White has been one of the team's most impactful two-way players this season, narrowly missing out an All-Star bid of his own. Vogel, who has since 2012 coached his team to the league's top defensive rating three separate times, complimented Brown, Tatum, Holiday and White as elite perimeter defenders.
Boston's historic season in historic franchise history
Boston's season has been one of its best ever. The Celtics' 48-12 start matched their 2008 team which last won a championship for the city behind Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.
The Celtics have a coach, Joe Mazzulla, who has proven his style of play with defense and offensive camaraderie (Boston is No. 1 and No. 2 in offensive and defensive efficiency, respectively) can work. Here are some of the notable statistics for this year's Boston team.
- The Celtics have three 50-point wins this year, which is the most in NBA history.
- Boston's +11.1 net rating is the highest since the Golden State Warriors' in 2016-17, Durant's debut season playing alongside Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Only those juggernaut Warriors and Michael Jordan's 1996-97 Chicago Bulls boast a better net rating than the Celtics' since the stat was first tracked in that same season.
- Boston's consistent success has been evident even before their acquisitions of Holiday and Porzingis, since they now have the best regular-season win percentage since 2016-17. Only the Warriors have more playoff wins over that span.
- The Celtics are on pace for 66 wins. They'd be one of 18 teams in league history to reach that total, 12 of which when on to win title, per ESPN's Tim Bontemps.
Suns-Celtics prediction
ESPN's BPI gives the Celtics 69.8 percent chance to beat the Suns. Phoenix has won its last two games despite missing Booker, including an impressive overtime road victory against Nikola Jokic and the defending-champion Denver Nuggets.
The Suns are expected to be a championship contender, but have only had Beal, Booker and Durant together for fewer than 25 games. This could be No. 24, and it would be the biggest of the season.
Even if Booker plays, Phoenix may have to make too many adjustments. Jusuf Nurkic, who might be the team's most important player given his role and expectations, will not be able to play much since Porzingis can stretch the floor to the perimeter.
I expect Boston to cruise to a double-digit win, which should give the Suns things they need to correct before they meet the Celtics again on March 14th.
Phoenix-Boston prediction: Celtics 113, Suns 94
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