Suns React to Loss vs Celtics
PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns fell to the Boston Celtics in 117-107 fashion on Saturday, dropping to 37-27 on the season and now owning the No. 7 seed in the West.
After the game, numerous Suns spoke on the tough loss.
“I thought we battled, proud of how hard we fought. I didn’t like how many loose balls we weren’t getting in the beginning of the game and how we rebounded," Suns coach Frank Vogel said.
"Got to have urgency against the team with the best record in the NBA, but I thought we caught ourselves and played a spirited game throughout the reset of it. Giving them 15 threes, I thought we could have pushed up more; I thought we did a decent job pushing up on our shooters for the most part and knowing that is a big part of their offensive attack, but there were too many possessions where we didn’t and they bombed a three on us and you just can’t have those errors. The marginal error is slim against a team like this, but I was proud with how we fought.”
Kevin Durant - who scored a clean 45 points with ten rebounds and six assists to boot - said it was losing the three-point battle that ultimately cost Phoenix.
“We shot 50% from the field, I think we slowed down and tried to find out where our matchup was and attack that way. We got some looks, we had 14 turnovers, but I had six of them, so everybody else was pretty good," said Durant.
"We forced them to 12 turnovers, so I don’t think the turnovers really killed us as much. They made six more threes than us and out-rebounded us, but not by that many. I think the three-point line is really what beat us.”
The Suns still fared well without star guard Devin Booker, who has now missed four games with an ankle injury.
“Yeah, another guy that can create for himself and create for others. Phenomenal leader, someone that we look to all game. I am excited to get him back, but we definitely don’t want to rush him back," said Durant.
"It is an important part of the season, and we need him to be as healthy as possible. If we can buy another couple hours, another couple days for him to get him right, we definitely could do that but we miss him out on the floor.”
The Suns are back in action tomorrow when the Cleveland Cavaliers play host.
