--G Jason Richardson has already been through a lot six games into the season. He had a two-game suspension to start the season. He had scoreless effort in Orlando on Wednesday, just the third in his 595-game NBA career. But against the Celtics, Richardson put it all together.

His 34-point night included six three-pointers in seven tries and his 10 rebounds led all Suns players. On a night when G Leandro Barbosa remained out with a wrist injury, Richardson played a team-high 38 minutes and scoring the first eight points of the fourth quarter, showing what he can bring to the team when playing at his best.

"He's such a good player," teammate Steve Nash said. "We'd like to give him every chance to be successful."

--G Steve Nash had a clunker of a game against the Magic, and he wasn't alone. But against the Celtics, Nash was back to his double-double self with 16 points and 12 assists, including a big three-pointer with 51 seconds left to give them some much-needed breathing room. Nash said afterward the win was a big one.

"We've got 17 of our first 26 on the road. So we have to try to find a way to win some of these while we try to find out who we are," Nash said. "It's a whole fresh start for us. A lot of new players. Last year was basically a throwaway year with so many things thrown at us. We're not really sure what to expect going into this season. So we're just trying to find ourselves and try to be as positive and work as hard as we can every day to get a little bit better."

--F Amar'e Stoudemire is getting his offense into shape. After going for 25 points and 14 rebounds in a losing effort in Orlando, Stoudemire followed it up with 22 points and seven boards. He's not a fan of Boston C Kendrick Perkins and said he hasn't seen much maturity in the game of the volatile Celtic.

"He keeps a lot of confrontation going," Stoudemire said. "We try to play smart basketball. From my standpoint, we try to stay out of the confrontation, really just go out and execute our plays offensively and defensively. But it seems sometimes, (Perkins) wants to keep it up. He's always mean. Always mad. He (doesn't ever) have fun out there. He needs to learn how to have fun on the basketball court and just enjoy his life -- enjoy the game."

MEDICAL WATCH:

--C Robin Lopez (broken foot) is back on the court but has not been cleared for practice. His foot will be X-rayed again when he returns to Phoenix and is still on track to return at the end of the month.

--G Leandro Barbosa missed his third straight game with a cyst on his right wrist. The Suns were hoping he would be able to play against the Celtics but the pain was still high and now he is pointing toward Sunday's game in Washington.