Suns overpower Celtics

This is the type of game that the Suns got Shaquille O'Neal for. The grinders. How would the Suns respond when someone tried to muck it up and push them around with Shaq in the lineup? We got a decent idea Friday night. The Suns broke out early and matched the Celtics intensity throughout in a 85-77 victory.

The Suns were sloppy and without Leandro Barbosa, after losing him to a bloody cut and head injury early in the game. However Boston could not capitalize on the turnovers and the Suns defense was solid. The Celtics couldn't hit a shot and the Suns completely controlled the boards. The Suns hit the Celtics with quick 15-0 run and set the tone.

Then it turned into a playoff game. Garnett and Amare started going at each other full on. Elbows, trash talk, tight defense and the occasional basket. I personally thought Amare was afraid of Garnett in the past because Garnett tries to intimidate opponents and I've seen Amare shrink into poor games against him. Not in this game.

I think we're seeing Amare (28 pts, 6 reb, 3 blk) transform into an MVP caliber player. Shaq (4 pts, 14 reb, 2 blk) is building his confidence and creating openings for him on both ends of the floor. When Shaq moves through the middle, players hesitate and Amare is getting a ton of open looks, driving lanes and blocks. Amare played excellent defense against Garnett (without fouling) and I'm glad he got a tech for shoving him after the big dunk. This is a different team and this is just the beginning.

What more can I say about Grant Hill. Hill (14 pts) nabbed 13 boards and attacked the rim. DJ Strawberry brought the rookie energy tonight with extended minutes as well. He made plays on defense and created some turnovers. The kid just has to find a few points in those minutes and he'll be a solid rotation contributor. Ray Allen (11 pts, 3-12 FG) and Paul Pierce (8 pts, 2-13 FG) never got it going and a lot of the credit has to go to the perimeter defense.

I thought Boris (10 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast) was impressive in extended fourth quarter minutes as well. He is STILL passing up too many good shots though. Diaw can't do that against teams with strong principles like the Celtics. The Suns only squeezed off 11 threes and most of those were in transition or shot-clock desperation heaves. Layups and free throws are the key to beating good defensive teams and Boris has the ability to create those opportunities. He'd cut his turnovers if he simply attacked them rim instead of constantly kicking out.

At his best, Nash controls the tempo of the game. There are only a few players in the league who can do that. The bigs like Duncan and Garnett do it on the defensive end and Nash on offense. When it was clear this was going to be a defensive struggle and Shaq and Amare had it under control, Nash (18 pts, 7 reb, 5 ast) turned into Chauncey Billups in the fourth quarter with two huge threes.

This game was ugly but fun as hell to watch. The 24 turnovers were due to poor spacing and facing the best defensive team in the league. The Suns were the aggressor though. The attempt to be physical just got the Celtics into foul trouble and they dug a hole they couldn't get out of. I think the Suns exposed a weakness as well- little interior scoring. When the jumpers weren't falling, the Celtics relied on defense to come back. It helped but the Suns still put a few runs on them and never trailed in the game.

The Suns know they can score and now are finding they can rebound and defend better with an eraser in the middle. We got a glimpse of their newfound versatility against elite competition. Detroit promises to be just as fun and probably just as nasty.