It is not very often one sees the sort of offensive beat down the Boston Celtics laid on the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night. The Celtics smacked the (then) West-leading Suns, 125-98.
To add insult to injury, that score disguises just how thick Boston laid it on through the game’s first three quarters. The Celtics were up by as much as 45 points in what was supposed to be a pitched battle between the two conference leaders on the night of Chris Paul’s return from a lingering heel injury that had the veteran point guard sidelined for a month.
Let’s take a look at what NBA and Celtics Twitter had to say about the blowout win.
Celtics Lab 157: Making sense of royal NBA fans and World Cup play with Josh Coyne https://t.co/UKVgqL5kZR
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) December 8, 2022
–oOo–
First quarter
late night C’s 🫡🍿
— smarfwater™ (@smarfwater) December 8, 2022
Not sure 2 Smart & 1 Blake 3s were how you expected this game to start…
— Mike Kawano (@KawanoMike) December 8, 2022
Grant came to play
— Evan Valenti (@EvanValenti) December 8, 2022
The Chris Paul steal, ends Jaylen Brown's streak at 97 minutes without a turnover.
— Sean Grande (@SeanGrandePBP) December 8, 2022
Jaylen Brown has been UBER aggressive so far tonight.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) December 8, 2022
Kornet, who already has a big dunk, out-hustles three Suns for an offensive rebound, and it ends with a Brogdon 3.
Continues to be valuable.— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) December 8, 2022
A lot of #Celtics fans here at Footprint Center. #Suns
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) December 8, 2022
Malcolm Brogdon changes everything
— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) December 8, 2022
Second quarter
This is only the 2nd time Blake is playing without 3+ days of rest
He played on 10/22 & again on 10/24 … he played a combined 15 minutes in those 2 games
Let’s see what 1 game a week Blake has in the tank tonight!
— Brian Barrett (@itsbrianbarrett) December 8, 2022
Tatum Dirk’n out here in Phoenix
— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) December 8, 2022
That’s a horrible call by Tony Brothers … he could not possibly see that based on his positioning
— Brian Barrett (@itsbrianbarrett) December 8, 2022
Kornet swatting away alley-oop passes to Ayton. Derrick White follow-slams. Blake Griffin 3-pointers.
Celtics by 19. Sheesh.— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) December 8, 2022
Derrick White is just 1-of-5 but is still having a great half.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) December 8, 2022
That ball movement ending in the Tatum miss was still unreal they are so connected. I am continually impressed by this team, which is saying a lot given how they have been playing.
— Dr. Justin Quinn (@justinquinnn) December 8, 2022
You. Can't. Play. Defense. With. Your. Face.
The NBA has to get rid of this crap. And I say that as someone who watches multiple Celtics pull this off on a fairly regular basis.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) December 8, 2022
The Celtics lead the Suns 69-42 at the half.
27 points is their largest halftime lead of the season.
42 points is also the fewest they have allowed in the 1st half this season.
69 points is nice!— Max Lederman (@Max_Lederman) December 8, 2022
Third quarter
If the Celtics hold on to this one, they will have beaten every team in the top 6 of the Western Conference so far (the Suns, Pelicans, Grizzlies, Nuggets, Kings and Mavericks).
— Tom Westerholm (@Tom_NBA) December 8, 2022
Play like score tied. Play the right way. Ball movement
— Richard White (@RamblinWreck34) December 8, 2022
Blake Griffin's legs holding up pretty well after 32 minutes on Monday night.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) December 8, 2022
80-44. My goodness.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) December 8, 2022
Alright this is comical now
The Celtics are ridiculous
— Jack Simone (@JackSimoneNBA) December 8, 2022
Celtics right now pic.twitter.com/1P883O7Kkb
— John Karalis 🇬🇷 🇺🇦 (@John_Karalis) December 8, 2022
.@Suns pic.twitter.com/9vEpqVKCpn
— Celtics Lab Podcast (@CelticsLab) December 8, 2022
The Celtics are seven points away from doubling up the Suns.
Midway through the third quarter.
— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) December 8, 2022
The gap between the Celtics and the rest of the league right now is unbelievable. Boston has one hell of a chip on their shoulder this season. #BleedGreen
— Amina Smith (@aminajadeTV) December 8, 2022
Mazzulla, so far, is not calling it. Cs stars in against Suns third string. 96-52. https://t.co/s28ymdnxbu
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) December 8, 2022
Chris Paul hits a huge 3 to cut the lead to 42 kind of night
— Kylie Cheung (@kylietcheung) December 8, 2022
Fourth quarter (mercifully for Phoenix)
The Suns really have 12 more minutes left of this 😅 #BleedGreen pic.twitter.com/VwQ0PqLpen
— Amina Smith (@aminajadeTV) December 8, 2022
The man's got an All-NBA case to support. https://t.co/NTjmgIaPg0
— Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) December 8, 2022
No mercy rule in the NBA apparently
— Celtics Lab Podcast (@CelticsLab) December 8, 2022
Jaylen checks out after a meaningless 1:54 of the 4Q. Not sure why he was even in the game. #Celtics #Suns
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) December 8, 2022
Let's go #Celtics chants have taken over here in Phoenix! #bleedgreen
— Abby Chin (@tvabby) December 8, 2022
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