Suns look to continue mastery of Celtics

BOSTON - With the scar from Monday’s controversial loss to the Detroit Pistons still fresh and stinging, the Suns are in need of a salve.

Fortunately, the Boston Celtics are next on the schedule.

That may sound like an absurd statement considering the Celtics are a league-best 55-15, but historically speaking (recently, at least), Boston is an ideal opponent to make things right again in the Suns’ world.

Since Steve Nash began his second go-round in Phoenix, the Suns are 6-1 against Boston, including a 3-0 road mark in Beantown. In the one loss, Nash sat out with a sore hamstring.

While the Boston teams of the past three seasons were far inferior to this year’s club, which has gone from worst to first thanks to the addition of perennial All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, Phoenix has already gotten the best of Version.08 once, 85-77 at home on Feb. 22.

And that was during the early stages of the Suns’ second “training camp” when they were still working out the kinks of adding Shaquille O’Neal.

Several factors worked in Phoenix’s favor that day. Boston was playing its third road game in four nights and both Paul Pierce (2-for-13 shooting, five points) and Allen (3-for-12, 11 points) had off performances.

Wednesday’s matchup figures to be a much stiffer test but also offers the possibility of a much more rewarding victory.

The Celtics come in having lost two straight after blowing double-digit leads in the second half of games at New Orleans (Saturday) and at home to Philadelphia (Monday).

They have also dropped two in a row at home, where they are 29-6.

Even though they were miffed by a couple of calls that went against them, Phoenix’s loss in Detroit didn’t have much effect on the team’s spirits, which were riding high due to a seven-game winning streak.

“We did enough to win,” Nash said after Monday’s game.

Still, a victory over Boston would reaffirm the Suns’ belief that they are headed in the right direction in their quest for the franchise’s first championship.

It would also allow the Suns to keep pace with the rest of the West’s front-runners, thereby helping their chances for a favorable playoff seed.

They are only 1 1/2 games out of first in the conference and yet wouldn’t have home court if the postseason started today.

But in the Western Conference, that could very well change by the end of Wednesday night.

“We’ve taken solace in the fact that we still think we’re playing well,” guard Raja Bell said. “We have a chance to go out and beat (the team with) the best record in the league. . . .

“We’ll try to take care of them.”

Just like they have in the past.

Suns at Celtics

When: 4 p.m. today
Where: TD Banknorth Garden
TV: ESPN/KUTP (Ch. 45)
Radio: KTAR (620 AM)
Records: Phoenix 47-23, Boston 55-15
Line: Boston by 5
Series history: Phoenix won the season’s first meeting 85-77 at home on Feb. 22, Shaquille O’Neal’s second game with the Suns. Overall it trails 47-58, including 18-35 on the road.
Scouting report: Suns — Phoenix will be hungry to start a new winning streak tonight after feeling that its seven-game run was prematurely halted by officiating Monday in Detroit. The Suns have the opportunity to become the first Western Conference team to beat Boston twice this season. After starting out 22-2 vs. the East, they have lost three straight (Detroit twice and Philadelphia). Amaré Stoudemire can become the first Sun to score 30 or more points in three consecutive games since Shawn Marion in 2006 (Feb. 22-27). Steve Nash’s next 3-pointer will be his 157th, breaking his previous record set last season.
 Celtics — Boston recently defeated San Antonio, Houston and Dallas in consecutive road games for the first time since the 1986-87 season. It has since lost two straight. The Celtics’ longest losing streak is three games, the third of which came in Phoenix last month. Their magic number to clinch the top seed in the East is seven games. Boston is allowing just 90.4 points per game and opponents are shooting just 41.9 percent, both tops in the league. Kevin Garnett, a leading MVP candidate, is in the top 30 in the league in rebounds (16th, 9.5), field-goal percentage (14th, 53.4), steals (17th, 1.43) and blocks (30th, 1.25) and is second on the team in scoring (18.8). Paul Pierce is first at 20.0.