Suns begin eastern jaunt against Celtics

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Phoenix Suns begin a long eastern swing Monday night when they head to TD Garden to face the Boston Celtics.

The Suns will visit the Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors on this long sojourn east. Phoenix is 1-2 on the road this season.

The trip actually began in Los Angeles Saturday night with a 120-107 loss to the Clippers. The 120 points allowed were a season-high for a Phoenix team ranked 25th in opponents' scoring.

With the game tied 54-54 at the half, Chris Paul made back-to-back 3-pointers to begin the quarter. He added another trey later in the surge and DeAndre Jordan capped it with a three-point play to give the Clippers a 76-59 lead.

Los Angeles' margin swelled to as many as 26 points in the third before Phoenix put up a mild fight in the fourth.

"We played decent for a half," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. "Then they were hitting 3-pointers to start the second half."

Gerald Green led Phoenix with 26 points off the bench and Goran Dragic notched 19 points for the Suns, who have lost two straight following a two-game winning streak. Green was ejected for arguing with officials.

Alex Len finished with a career-high 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Isaiah Thomas added 19.

Suns guard Eric Bledsoe went 0-for-6 from the field and ended with one point. Marcus and Markieff Morris combined for eight points on 3-of-20 shooting for Phoenix.

The Celtics are trying to salvage a single victory on this homestand. They opened with a 15-point loss to the undermanned Oklahoma City Thunder, in a game the C's led big.

Then, on Friday, Boston held a 19-point fourth-quarter lead over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, but fell, 122-121.

Boston scored 42 points in the third quarter, but was outscored 38-20 in the fourth quarter despite shooting 50 percent.

Kelly Olynyk scored 21 points in a well-balanced attack for the Celtics, who have lost two in a row to open a three-game homestand. Seven players scored at least 12 points, including Jared Sullinger and Jeff Green, who each had 19.

Avery Bradley, Brandon Bass, Evan Turner and Marcus Thornton each scored 12 for the Celtics. Rajon Rondo had 16 points and six assists.

"The positive sign is that we were in the situation we were in against one of, if not the most talented team in the NBA," head coach Brad Stevens said after practice on Sunday.

The Suns won both meetings last season and has taken two of the last three in Boston.