Joe Mazzulla picked a good night to rest Jaylen Brown.
With the Boston Celtics facing the Phoenix Suns on the front end of a back-to-back, Mazzulla gave Brown the night off on Tuesday, saving him for Wednesday's game against the Denver Nuggets. Jayson Tatum remained out as well.
Fortunately, the Celtics didn't miss them too much, routing the Suns 97-81 at a PHX Arena filled with a surprising number of Boston fans.
Phoenix was also shorthanded, missing its two best players in Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks. The Celtics took full advantage, cruising to their fourth straight win and ninth victory in their last 10 games.
Another night, another Celtics win. Tonight they clobber the Suns in Phoenix without Jaylen Brown. That's gotta have some thoughts going through your head right now. What are they? pic.twitter.com/LfQTKY0V9a
— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) February 25, 2026
Boston struggled shooting the ball early and got off to a slow start, trailing for much of the first half. The Celtics finished the half strong and surged ahead by halftime, giving them momentum heading into the second half.
That's when Boston pulled away, outscoring the Suns 30-11 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach. The result was a fourth straight win by double digits for the Celtics.
Derrick White led Boston in scoring with 22 points, snapping out of his recent shooting funk with four 3-pointers. He also chipped in eight rebounds, eight assists and three blocks in one of his best games of the season.
Baylor Scheierman and Neemias Queta both recorded double-doubles, while Sam Hauser contributed 16 points and four 3-pointers.
The Celtics' bench had a relatively quiet game scoring-wise with 26 points as Nikola Vucevic and Payton Pritchard both had off shooting nights.
After improving to 38-19, Boston will look to cap off its undefeated road trip with another win against the Nuggets on Wednesday.
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