Celtics Outshine Suns in 20-Point Win

By KC Downey in Celtics ⋅ March 27, 2008 at 5:05am ⋅ Post a comment

Kevin Garnett finished with 30 points as all five starts finished in double figures in a 117-97 win. A strong Celtics defense more than held their own, holding the Run n’ Gun Suns to just 2 fast break points all game.

Paul Pierce added 27 points and Kendrick Perkins finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Celtics improved to 24-5 against the Western Conference and a league-best 56-15 overall.

Shaq was not really a factor for much of the game. Perk played him close and played him tough, even though Shaq outweighs him by 61 pounds (325-264). A pesky Rajon Rondo caused Shaq to commit a technical foul in the third quarter, just as the Celtics were beginning to mount their big lead. Shaq finished with 16 points and 7 rebounds.

KG and Amare Stoudemire were fun to watch when matched up against each other. The problem with Stoudemire is that he just isnt close to the defensive player that KG is, and that’s the main difference between the two. Both are prolific offensively, and showed it: KG had 30 points, and Stoudemire had 32 points and 6 rebounds.

What’s next for the Celtics? Well, they’ll host the Hornets on Friday night, looking to avenge their tough loss at the end of last week’s road trip. They were winning all game and looking to complete a perfect road trip, until the Hornets stung them (pun intended) in the fourth quarter to steal the win.