BOSTON, MA (WBZ-AM) -- The Celtics are missing some of their top players but, somehow, just keep finding a way into the win column. They'll try to do so again Monday night.
Celtics will try for their fourth straight win tonight in Phoenix at 10 o'clock. Shouldn't be a problem since the Suns aren't expected to have top players Devin Booker or TJ Warren, they've lost 11 straight and 26 of 28, they have the worst record in the NBA the worst home record, and their main focus is on lottery balls.
They are shorthanded, but they've won their last three without Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart, and got a key reinforcement back last night in Sacramento when Jaylen Brown returned from his six-game absence for a concussion to score 19 with a plus-24 rating in just 25 minutes.
Marcus Morris sat out with a sprained ankle, but the hope is he'll return to face his old team.
In the meantime, Terry Rozier's continued to dominate. 33 points last night to extended his streak of double-digit points to 22 games, and he's averaged 19 points, six rebounds, five assists, and two steals starting in place of the injured Irving.
With the latest win - its 50th - Boston's down to its final nine games, and only a three-and-a-half-game deficit of Toronto first in the East, with two meetings left.
C's still hold a six-game cushion on the third-place Cavaliers.
WBZNewsRadio1030's Adam Kaufman reports.