The Phoenix Suns beat the Boston Celtics 106-94 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, on Friday, starting their five-game road trip in the Eastern Conference with a victory.

Before the competition had begun, NBC sports broadcaster and former Celtics champion forward Brian Scalabrine gave his take on the home team's game. According to him, the Celtics should pressure the opponents' starting point guard Chris Paul, attack and move the ball, and pound the boards.

The Celtics failed to do any of the above. Paul, 37, scored 15 points, six rebounds and eight assists with no turnover at all. His field goal (FG) shooting of 6-for-15 was not pretty, but Paul had 11 points in the second quarter alone, extending the Suns' lead from four points in the first quarter (24-20) to 13 after the first half (57-44).

Neither did the Celtics cause much trouble for the Suns' overall orchestrating. They had five steals and forced only turnovers by the Suns. Their own ball-movement was very sloppy. The Celtics delivered 18 assists at the cost of 14 turnovers. Many of their shots were simple attempts by using a teammate's screen.

The Celtics failed to establish advantage in rebounds too. They lost in both total (53-43) and offensive rebounds (10-3). As a result, they took as many as 20 fewer shots than the Suns and trailed in FG rate (43.2 percent-38.7 percent).

On the Suns' side, Mikal Bridges led the roster in scoring with 25 points. His eight points in the first quarter set the team free of the scoring draught at the beginning. He also had eight points in the fourth period for the Suns to extend their lead again after the opponents cut it to one point (74-73) in the third quarter. Bridges' ability of beating the perimeter defense off the dribble is integral to the team's offense.

By contrast, the Celtics wasted their much more complete arsenal. The team was obsessed with firing from downtown in Friday's game despite their advantages in size and athleticism. However, having shot over half of their FGs (75) behind the arc (38), the team only made 10 of them.

The Celtics' star duo, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, combined to miss 16 of their 22 triples. Brown at least tried to charge the rim and shot 4-for-5 in the paint. Tatum made only three shots, all from outside, and missed every of his five attempts within the 3-point line. Sure, he had the most free throw attempts (12) on the court, but it was not necessarily a sign of good aggressiveness on offense because six of those free throws came from two 3-point shooting fouls.

Other games on Friday (away teams come first):

Sacramento Kings 104-107 Indiana Pacers

Tyrese Haliburton struggled to get only 10 points and nine assists when he met his old teammates of the Kings at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Friday, but his side won. The Pacers went 17-for-41 from downtown and had 13 steals, which enabled them to score 28 fast break points.

The Kings rested their All-Star snub point guard De'Aaron Fox and relied more on Domantas Sabonis, who played for the Pacers last season, in playmaking. Sabonis had a double-double of 15 points and 16 rebounds while delivering six assists. He assisted Terence Davis to make a triple, cutting their trail to three points (107-104) when there were two minutes left in the final quarter. Nonetheless, neither side scored anything in the rest of the competition.

Orlando Magic 127-120 Minnesota Timberwolves

The Magic's bench unit had an explosive night on Friday. Cole Antony, Moritz Wagner, Bol Bol, Jalen Suggs and Jonathan Isaac outscored their Timberwolves counterpart 72-49, which was decisive to their victory on the road.

A fight happened at the end of the third quarter in the game. First Austin Rivers of the Timberwolves went to clash with Mohamed Bamba who was sitting on the Magic's bench. The fight soon escalated as more players came to join them. In the end, Rivers, Bamba, Jaden McDaniels, Taurean Prince and Suggs were all ejected from the game.

Atlanta Hawks 115-108 Utah Jazz

The Hawks secured their second straight win at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Friday. They established a 10-point lead (32-22) in the first quarter and then managed to keep the Jazz from coming back at closer than nine points in most of the rest of the competition. Trae Young and De'Andre Hunter combined to score 53 points for the Hawks.

The Jazz struggled at the 3-pointline where they missed 29 of the 44 attempts. They were outperformed by the Hawks in the paint (56-46) as well. Lauri Markkanen, Jordan Clarkson and Mike Conley combined to score 24 points for the team to rally in the fourth quarter, but still failed to reverse the situation.

Charlotte Hornets 112-118 Detroit Pistons

Portland Trail Blazers 124-116 Washington Wizards

Toronto Raptors 117-111 Houston Rockets

Philadelphia 76ers 137-125 San Antonio Spurs