The Phoenix Suns (35-37) host the Boston Celtics (53-19) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at PHX Arena, in a game airing on ESPN and Arizona’s Family (3TV in Phoenix).
The Suns have won four straight games and six in a row on their home court, while the Celtics have won six straight.
Phoenix and Sacramento have the same record after the Kings (35-37) lost Tuesday to the Oklahoma City Thunder (60-12). The Kings currently hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Suns and are in 9th place in the West, having a 2-1 season series edge.
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The Suns hold the 10th and final play-in spot. Phoenix ends its regular season on April 13 at Sacramento. If Phoenix wins that game and the teams end up tied, the Suns would hold the tie-breaker with a better division record. Phoenix is a half-game ahead of Dallas in the standings. Both Sacramento and Dallas are idle on Wednesday.
Boston, the defending NBA champion, is second in the East behind Cleveland. The Celtics have the third-best overall record in the NBA. The Suns and Celtics meet again on April 4 in Boston.
Check back at azcentral.com for live updates during Wednesday’s game.
The Suns are rolling with Collin Gillespie, Devin Booker, Ryan Dunn, Kevin Durant and Nick Richards in their starting lineup. The Suns are 3-0 with this starting unit.
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Gillespie, a two-way player, is starting for the injured Bradley Beal, who is missing his fifth straight game with a hamstring injury.
The Celtics will be without Jayson Tatum (ankle), but have the luxury of starting veteran Al Horford in his place. Boston is starting Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis and Horford.
Suns coach Mike Budenholzer coached Horford in Atlanta. Singing his praises, Budenholzer said Horford is “one of my favorite people and players of all time.”
Budenholzer added: “I probably wouldn’t be sitting here without Al Horford.”
Bradley Beal will miss his fifth straight game for the Suns while recovering from a left hamstring strain. Celtics’ All-Star Jayson Tatum is officially ruled out after previously being upgraded from doubtful to questionable with a left ankle sprain suffered in Boston’s game at Sacramento earlier this week.
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Phoenix also lists G League/two-way players Jalen Bridges and TyTy Washington Jr. out, while the Celtics list Xavier Tillman out with a left knee sprain, and G League/two-way players JD Davison, Miles Norris and Drew Peterson also out.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns-Celtics updates: Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum out with injury
