Sports
Seven players scored double digits.
Celtics Guard Payton Pritchard will face Phoenix Sun striker Mikal Bridges in the second half of Friday. Mary Schwalm / AP Photo
December 31, 2021 | 4:18 pm
BOSTON (AP) – Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart scored 24 points each, and the Boston Celtics stopped a three-game slide by leading the Phoenix Suns 123-108 on Friday.
Brown also took 11 rebounds and Smart finished with eight assists, helping the Celtics recover from a 91-82 home loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night. Robert Williams had 10 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds, and Josh Richardson added 19 points.
The Celtics had to forego leading scorer Jayson Tatum, who was put on their health and safety protocols earlier this week, but Smart returned and the offense responded with 54% shots. Seven players scored double digits.
Devin Booker scored 22 points for Phoenix and Cam Johnson had 20 points. Jalen Smith scored 19 and Chris Paul finished with 14 points and eight assists.
“You have to turn the page and have a short memory,” says Coach Udoka of us, who returned from the field today with a 54.2 percent clip from a hard shooting night on Wednesday. “We shot well today.”
– Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 31, 2021
The Suns were left without starters Deandre Ayton and Jae Crowder, who missed their third game in a row due to health and safety logs. Coach Monty Williams was also on the protocol list for the third game in a row.
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