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Thursday night was looking like the Boston Celtics' worst nightmare.
After entering the game of the game, Boston entered the game against the Phoenix Suns at 6-4 overall with rumblings about chemistry and playing-time gripes beginning to swirl around the club.
The Celtics came out lethargic at Talking Stick Resort Arena, falling into a 22-point hole against the 2-8 Suns. It appeared the C's were destined to face the mounting issues of what's gone wrong with the Eastern Conference favorite pres.
Purpose Kyrie Irving had other ideas.
With Boston Trailing by 12 with three minutes to play, Boston's star on his cape and rescued the Celtics scuffling. Marcus Morris for the game-tying 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds remaining in the game overtime.
Overtime, unsurprisingly, also belonged to Boston's hero.
Irving and Suns star Devin Booker dueled for the opening minutes of OT, with the C's guard scoring the first six points of the period and assisting on an Al Horford 3-pointer that gave Boston a lead it would not relinquish. Irving scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, turning a disastrous defeat into a 116-109 win and a moment that could put the Celtics on the path to discovering the dominant level of play they are capable of.
While Boston is full of talent across the board, he is one of the first talents in the league during his late-game barrage.
"That's definitely kill time, you know," NBC Sports's Irving told Boston Abby Chin after the game. "Just want to come out aggressive, make sure I make the right plays on both ends of the floor, just play to my strengths as well as trust my teammates. That's the most important thing we're starting to figure out, it's about the trust. Making that extra pass, having a play and having confidence, that's really what it comes down to. "
The Celtics scored 13 points on 18.2 percent in a disastrous first quarter, but Irving believes that 's part of the growing breads the group is facing as they try to discover how to play together.
"It happens, you know? These road trips, you want to come out and play well. Obviously, we are forming this team and our fellowship, our cohesiveness, how do you think we are going to be in the world, what are we going to do now? I think we have shown that desire tonight to win. We wanted it, came out with a dub. "
Questions around the Celtics' consistency and potential will continue if they jell slowly, but the goal is to play the game.
Here are more notes from Celtics-Suns:
Head Coach Brad Stevens was happy with his team got the win, but he knows his team is nowhere near where he needs to be.
"I told (Suns coach Igor Kokoskov) we did not want to win the game," said Stevens, as seen on NBC Sports Boston. "It was a great individual performance by Kyrie certainly, and Morris hit another huge shot for us but we have a long way to go."
The Suns had a probability of 99.7 percent when they were up by 17 with 6:56 to play. Boston outscored Phoenix 43-17 for the rest of the game.
– With the Celtics down 20 at halftime, Stevens moved to change up his lineup, going with Marcus Smart instead of Jayson Tatum. Why? Effort.
Thumbnail photo via Jennifer Stewart / USA TODAY Sports Images
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