PREVIEW: Suns Face Celtics

PHOENIX -- Game number 77 of the Phoenix Suns' (35-41) season is set to be played tonight - this one is a rematch with the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics (56-20) after losing by nearly 30 in the meeting last week.

Kevin Durant will remain out for the Suns due to an ankle sprain suffered on Sunday night, while guard Bradley Beal will return after missing the last two-plus weeks of action. Jaylen Brown is questionable for the Celtics with a knee injury.

A brief preview of the contest ahead:

Suns: Fighting for Play-In Lives

Tonight is a virtual must-win game for the Suns - as are the remainder of games due to Phoenix trailing both the Dallas Mavericks and the Sacramento Kings for the final two spots in the play-in tournament.

The Celtics will prove to be an uphill climb, however, as head coach Joe Mazzulla has alluded to the mentaility that his team will not ease up over the final set of games in the regular season.

Boston - as is well established - is a well-coached, deep, and very balanced basketball squad. They shoot more three-pointers per contest than anyone by a sizable margin and play phenomenal team defense for 48 minutes a night.

The Suns will need to capture more lightning in a bottle from role players such as Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale if any chance to steal a victory is to come about - a Kings loss to coincide with a victory would be extremely useful in the grand scheme of the standings.

Oso Ighodaro: Here to Stay?

The rookie center out of Marquette was a virtual non-factor for the majority of January and February after starting the season in a major role.

The jack-of-all-trades big man has regained favor over the last month, having averaged 23.6 MPG in March and enjoying significant moments such as a four-block showing against the Houston Rockets on March 12.

It surely looks as if Ighodaro has overtaken Mason Plumlee in the rotation and is currently playing hefty minutes in an effort to continue refining his game in hopes that a year two jump is in the cards.

Prediction: Celtics Win

The result of this game is difficult to predict - will the Suns that lost three consecutive games in blowout fashion be the version to show up? Or will the Suns who defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers and pushed the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night be the one fans get to see?

It could be easy to see the Suns stay competitive for a period of time, but Boston is just too balanced and deep of a team to drop this contest - the loss would seal the first losing season in Phoenix since they finished 34-39 in 2020.

Suns-Celtics is set to tip-off shortly after 4:30 P.M. Arizona time this afternoon.