Kristaps Porzingis recorded 30 points and eight rebounds and Jaylen Brown added 24 points to help the Boston Celtics roll to a 132-102 dismantling of the host Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.
Porzingis and Brown each made four 3-pointers while playing just three quarters and Boston matched a season best with its seventh straight win. The Celtics (54-19) have won 12 of their past 13 games and are 4-0 on a six-game road trip.
Boston cruised despite All-Star Jayson Tatum sitting out with a sprained left ankle.
Al Horford had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Derrick White added 16 points and seven assists and Jrue Holiday also scored 16 points for the Celtics, who have won 14 of their past 15 away contests. Boston trails the first-place Cleveland Cavaliers by 4 1/2 games in the Eastern Conference race.
Kevin Durant scored 30 points in three quarters for the Suns, who had a four-game winning streak halted in the finale of a five-game homestand. Phoenix (35-38) is tied with Dallas for the final Western Conference play-in spot. The Sacramento Kings are a half-game ahead of the Suns and the Mavericks.
Devin Booker added 14 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds and Nick Richards scored 10 points for the Suns, who played without Bradley Beal (strained left hamstring) for the fifth straight game.
Boston made 22 of 52 3-point attempts (42.3 percent) and shot 50.6 percent overall. Sam Hauser scored 11 off the bench for the Celtics.
Phoenix connected on 41.4 percent of its shots and was 13 of 41 (31.7 percent) from behind the arc.
The Celtics didn’t miss Tatum as they never trailed. Boston knocked down seven 3-pointers over the first 4:11 of the game for a 21-9 lead, and the Celtics finished with 10 treys in the period. Holiday netted Boston’s first 2-point basket with four minutes left in the quarter.
Durant scored 16 points in the period to help Phoenix trail 42-38.
The Celtics used a 27-6 run in the second quarter to open up a 25-point lead. Boston scored 15 straight to end the burst with Porzingis’ layup making it 73-48 with 1:41 left in the half.
Boston led 73-54 at the break behind 17 points from Porzingis. Durant scored 20 in the half for the Suns.
Phoenix trailed 77-61 after a basket by Durant with 9:26 left in the third quarter before the Celtics scored 19 of the next 25 points. Luke Kornet’s dunk culminated the run to make it 96-67 with 4:47 remaining.
Porzingis drained a 3-pointer and added a short jumper to boost Boston’s lead to 106-72 with 2:45 left in the third, and the Celtics continued to lead comfortably.
–Field Level Media
