Suns Reveal Starting Lineup vs Celtics

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns will square off against a tough Boston Celtics team tonight after having their four-game win streak snapped Friday night against the Toronto Raptors.

The Celtics (44-23) are the No. 2 seed in the East and just added Jayson Tatum back to the mix 10 days ago after he tore his Achilles last season.

Phoenix (39-28) has been stuck as the No. 7 seed in the West for a while now and faces an uphill battle the rest of the season to try to get out of a play-in spot.

Tonight, Dillon Brooks (left hand fracture) and Mark Williams (left foot third metatarsal stress reaction) remain out for the Suns, while Nikola Vucevic (right ring finger fracture) continues to be out for Boston, who snapped a two-game losing streak Saturday with a 111-100 victory over the Washington Wizards.

This will be the fourth matchup of a six-game road trip for Phoenix and will also be the first leg of a back-to-back before another difficult game tomorrow night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Suns' Starters vs Celtics

The Suns will roll with the same starting five they have used since both Brooks and Williams have been out:

Collin Gillespie
Devin Booker
Jalen Green
Royce O'Neale
Oso Ighodaro

Phoenix is 4-2 when starting these five players.

More on Suns' Starters

Gillespie is averaging a career-high 13.2 points while shooting 42% from deep, but had his first scoreless performance of the season in the 122-115 loss to Toronto Friday.

“Find those opportunities, hunting 3s,” Gillespie said of getting back on track (via The Arizona Republic). “Being ready to catch-and-shoot knowing that those guys are back. More on-ball stuff might not be available as much, but being ready to catch-and-shoot off the ball.”

Booker is having his hottest individual stretch of the season so far, averaging 31.7 points over the last six games. He scored 31 points against the Raptors, but had a rough game in other areas with 0 assists and five turnovers, so the Suns will hope his playmaking, which he has excelled at all season long, gets back on track.

Green is also very hot as of late and is finally hitting his stride after missing 48 games due to injuries. He has scored 24 or more points five games in a row and recorded 34 points against Toronto following a season-high 36 points in Phoenix's win over the Indiana Pacers Thursday.

O'Neale has benefited from the spacing Booker and Green have created during this recent stretch, but will look to get rolling again after shooting 2-for-9 from 3 against the Raptors after going 12-for-19 from 3 in the Suns' previous two games.

In 13 games as a starter, Ighodaro is averaging 6.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists, but his impact goes far beyond the box score, as when he's at his best utilizing his unique skillset as a big man of being a connector offensively and a versatile defender, the Suns play much better as a team.

Even though the Suns will continue to roll with a smaller starting lineup against some dynamic forwards in Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they have been playing a lot of length off the bench lately most notably with Rasheer Fleming and Haywood Highsmith.

Coach Jordan Ott spoke on what he wants to see from the Suns tonight against No. 2-rated offense in the NBA.

"It's always going to start with our defense. Offensively, we know we now have more options, but it's not going to change," Ott said (via The Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin). "Our identity is our defense. That has to be our calling card every single night. That only fuels our offense."

Tonight's game tips off shortly after 4:30 p.m. MST.