Preview: Suns Face Celtics in Primetime Duel
PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns (37-26) are taking center stage in front of a national audience tonight when they take on the Boston Celtics (48-14) tonight.
The Celtics are coming into the game riding a two-game losing streak, having dropped games this week to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Denver Nuggets.
Phoenix is looking to continue to garner separation between them and the West's seven seed over the final weeks of the season.
Two storylines and a prediction ahead of the game tonight:
Celtics: Best Team in NBA This Season
The Celtics are a historically great team through 62 regular season games - at least according to metrics.
Boston by far leads the league in point differential, while also being dominant on both ends to the point that the team's net rating is in the same ballpark as past historic teams such as the 2017 Golden State Warriors and the 1996 Chicago Bulls.
Boston is a very balanced team that has eight consistent rotation players, shoot with great efficiency on league-best three point volume, and utilize versatile defensive sets that the numerous rotation combinations are capable of carrying out.
Boston is on pace to finish with over 60 games this season - they are the standard of the NBA this year.
The Suns have a huge litmus test game ahead of them.
Key Matchup: Kevin Durant vs Jayson Tatum
The matchup that is the most anticipated also could be the most important.
Durant and Tatum have been tied together ever since the Celtics swept Durant's Brooklyn Nets squad in the 2022 first round of the playoffs.
Both forwards have been among the best two-way players in basketball over the last several years - and both have done it while being relatively less ball-dominant compared to some other stars.
These two players are also looking to make a dent in an MVP race that has been dominated at the top by the likes of Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
This game could be a potential statement from either player.
Prediction: Suns Win
The outcome of this game could be contingent on Devin Booker's status.
Booker is the great equalizer in a game that will feature great talent on both sides - if he plays, the Suns have as good a chance as any of the elite teams do at beating Boston.
If not, the Celtics likely have the supper hand.
Let's take the positive Booker prognosis as a sign he's going to be able to play.
Suns-Celtics is set to tip off shortly after 6:30 PM AZ time tonight and will be broadcast on ABC.
