Boston Celtics @ Phoenix Suns
Tuesday, February 24, 2026 at 9:00 PM ET
Mortgage Matchup Center, Phoenix, AZ | Game ID: 22500839
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
PHX 26 20 11 24 81BOS 21 29 30 17 97
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Derrick White scores 22, and a third-quarter blitz lifts the Celtics past the Suns 97-81
PHOENIX -- — Derrick White scored 22 points, Neemias Queta had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics used a big third quarter to beat the Phoenix Suns 97-81 on Tuesday night.
Sam Hauser shot 6 for 14, including 4 for 10 from 3-point range, to add 16 points and the Celtics — playing without All-Star Jaylen Brown (right knee contusion) — won their fourth in a row and for the ninth time in their last 10 games.
Baylor Scheierman had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Collin Gillespie had 15 points and Grayson Allen scored 14 as the Suns lost for the fourth time in their last five games. The Suns played without their top two scorers, Devin Booker (right hip strain) and Dillon Brooks (left hand fracture), who combined average nearly 46 points per game.
The Celtics led 50-46 at halftime but took control by outscoring the Suns 30-11 in the third quarter, including a 16-0 run.
The Celtics also held a huge advantage on the boards, outrebounding the Suns by 27, 61 to 34.
Up next Celtics: At Denver on Wednesday night.
Suns: Host the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
PHXAC A. Coffey
CG C. Gillespie
GA G. Allen
JB J. Bouyea
JG J. Green
KB K. Brea
KM K. Maluach
MW M. Williams
OI O. Ighodaro
RD R. Dunn
RF R. Fleming
RO R. O'Neale
BOSBS B. Scheierman
DW D. White
HG H. González
JT J. Tonje
JW J. Walsh
LG L. Garza
NQ N. Queta
NV N. Vučević
PP P. Pritchard
RH R. Harper Jr.
SH S. Hauser
VU Vucevic
PHX/BOS the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur