Kyrie Irving Led The Celtics Back From A 22-Point Deficit To Beat The Suns In Overtime

The Boston Celtics are supposed to beat the Phoenix Suns in 2018, even when the game is taking place in Arizona. Simply put, Boston is the much better team and, given the fact that the Celtics were 10-point favorites in Las Vegas for the battle between the two teams on Thursday evening, expectations were in line with that.

However, the Suns took a commanding lead against the visiting Celtics, taking full advantage of a ghastly first half from Boston. Brad Stevens’ team converted a meager 21.7 percent of their first-half shots and, with strong shooting (51 percent) from the Suns, Phoenix took a 20-point margin to the second half.

Then, things started getting weird. The Suns did, at one point, lead by 22 points in the third quarter and 17 in the fourth, but the boulder started rolling down the hill in the final minutes.

Trailing by 12 points with approximately three minutes remaining, the Celtics began to heat up, led by Kyrie Irving.

Still facing an uphill battle in the form of a six-point deficit with 40 seconds to go, Irving kept churning.

Then, the game’s biggest blow was struck, as the Suns chose not to foul with a three-point lead in the final seconds, allowing Irving to find Marcus Morris for what became the game-tying three at the buzzer.

As is the case for many games such as this in which the better team forces overtime with all of the momentum, the Celtics were then able to put things away in the extra period. Again, they were led by Irving, who scored six points and dished out two assists in overtime.

On a night in which the Celtics received virtually nothing from Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward, Irving provided the lion’s share of the fireworks. The All-Star guard finished with 39 points on 13-for-28 shooting (including 6-for-13 from three), with 26 of Irving’s points coming after halftime.

In support, Morris and Jaylen Brown contributed 17 points each and Terry Rozier added 10 points and six rebounds off the bench. Still, this was a night to remember for Irving, who simply took over the game in the final minutes to aid in avoiding what, for all intents and purposes, looked to be a hideous loss for much of the night. Don’t take my word for it, here’s what Stevens had to say after it ended.

But Boston was able to come out on top, much to the delight of Bill Russell.

On the Suns side, this is a brutal defeat that didn’t need to be one. For the Celtics, perhaps this will serve as something of a kick-start to the team that many have picked to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. Regardless, there were plenty of memorable moments in a game that, for much of the night, looked to be quite forgettable.