Suns' Devin Booker the sixth to score 70 points

BOSTON – Devin Booker is only 20 and already has a place alongside Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant and just a few others in NBA history.

Booker scored 70 points, becoming the sixth different player to reach that total, but the Boston Celtics outlasted the Phoenix Suns 130-120 on Friday night.

David Thompson, David Robinson and Elgin Baylor are the NBA's only other 70-point scorers. Baylor also held the previous record against the Celtics with 64 points in Minneapolis for the Lakers on Nov. 8, 1959.

"This doesn't happen very often especially against a really good defensive team like the Boston Celtics," Booker said. "It's a zone. It's kind of hard to explain. I've been in those zones before, but never to this extent."

Booker scored 51 after halftime, including 28 in the final period as his teammates fed him almost every time down the floor.

Coach Earl Watson even used a pair of timeouts in the closing minutes to get him extra touches. As Booker's point total climbed, he even began to get cheers from some Boston fans. The entire display — in particular Phoenix's attempts to prolong the game — tweaked some Celtics players.

"It was weird what they were doing," Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas said. "I've never seen anything like that. It is what it is. ... But I mean it was obvious what they were trying to do. They were trying to get him the most points possible. Hats off to him. He played a hell of a game."

"I'm not coming into any arena just happy to be there, trying to be liked. I don't care about being liked. I really don't care to be honest with you," he said. "We're trying to build something with this young group. If people don't like us while we build it, so what? Do something about it."

Chamberlain had six 70-point games and his 62 points on Jan. 14, 1962, had been the most in a regular-season game in Boston.

Phoenix already has been eliminated from playoff contention, and had only eight available players because of injuries. Younger than some lineups in the NCAA tournament, the Suns have lost seven straight and nine of their past 10, and they were out of this one early before Booker's explosive performance made it interesting.