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Suns face lowly Celtics, aim for ninth straight win

Dec 8, 2006 - 2:26 PM Phoenix (11-6) at Boston (5-12) 7:30 pm EST

BOSTON (Ticker) -- It's going to be hard for the red-hot Phoenix Suns to top the thrilling performance in their last contest.

Coming off a remarkable double-overtime victory, the Suns aim for their ninth straight win when they visit the Boston Celtics on Friday.

In an entertaining thriller on Thursday, Steve Nash had a career-high 42 points and 13 assists while Boris Diaw drilled the go-ahead jumper with 14 seconds remaining in the second overtime as Phoenix outlasted New Jersey, 161-157.

Shawn Marion collected 33 points and nine rebounds for the Suns, who shot 52 percent (61-of-117) from the field and 17-of-31 from the arc in the highest-scoring game in the NBA this season.

The 318 combined points tied the game between Denver and San Antonio on January 11, 1984 for fourth all-time. In that contest, the Nuggets posted a 163-155 victory. The triple-overtime contest between Detroit (186) and Denver (184) on December 13, 1983, is the highest combined scoring game in NBA history.

The Celtics are heading in the other direction. Sebastian Telfair missed a harassed, hurried 3-pointer at the buzzer, sending the Celtics to their sixth loss in seven games, a 98-96 defeat to Memphis on Wednesday.

The Suns have won four straight in Boston.