The Phoenix Suns will kick off a 5-game Eastern Conference road trip tonight as they take on the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden. This will be the second and final matchup between these two teams for the season. The Celtics will enter this one on a 2-game winning streak.
The Celtics have been playing exceptionally well as a team this season. They currently stand as the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 37-15 record. Their last game was a dominating 139-96 win against the Brooklyn Nets. Celtics star forward Jayson Tatum scored 31 points along with 9 rebounds to lead his team to victory.
On the other hand, the Suns have been struggling this season. A team that was the top seed in the tough Western conference last year stands as the 7th seed right now with a barely .500 record of 27-26. Their last game was a blowout loss against the Atlanta Hawks with a final score of 132-100. Five Hawks scored in double figures in that game.
Jayson Tatum is listed as available for the Boston Celtics vs Phoenix Suns game tonight
Jayson Tatum has been playing nothing short of MVP-level basketball so far this season. The 24-year-old All-Star is averaging an impressive 31.1 points to go with 8.7 rebounds this season. The All-Star duo of him and Jaylen Brown have been instrumental in the Celtics’ success this season. For tonight’s game, he is listed as available.
Don’t miss #CenterCourt tonight 🍿@Suns vs. @celtics
📺 7:30 pm ET | @madebygoogle pic.twitter.com/Aj0GekI9zm— NBA TV (@NBATV) February 3, 2023
The Celtics will be missing guard Marcus Smart, who is listed as out for tonight’s game with an ankle injury. Forward Danilo Gallinari also remains out for tonight’s game with a knee injury. For the Suns, they’ll be missing guards Cameron Payne (foot), Devin Booker (groin), and Landry Shamet (foot) as well as veteran forward Jae Crowder (personal) in tonight’s game.
Here are the injury reports and expected rosters for the Celtics-Suns game tonight:
Boston Celtics injury report
- Marcus Smart (Out)
- Danilo Gallinari (Out)
Boston Celtics expected roster
-
Derrick White
- Jaylen Brown
- Jayson Tatum
- Al Horford
-
Robert Williams III
Phoenix Suns injury report
- Devin Booker (Out)
- Cameron Payne (Out)
- Landry Shamet (Out)
- Jae Crowder (Out)
Phoenix Suns expected roster
- Chris Paul
- Mikal Bridges
- Torrey Craig
- Cameron Johnson
- DeAndre Ayton
The Boston Celtics are favored to win against the Phoenix Suns
The last time these two teams faced off against each other was earlier this season in which the Celtics secured an easy 125-98 win. Tatum and Brown equaled 25 points for the Celtics in that win. For the Suns, Josh Okogie scored a team-high 28 points in that loss. Tonight, that result is likely to repeat.
This is a lopsided matchup between a well-performing and a struggling team. Although the Suns have players like Chris Paul, the Celtics might just be too much for them to handle at this point. So, expect an exciting game but an easy victory nonetheless for the Celtics.
Discussion about this post