BOSTON – Marcin Gortat scored five straight Phoenix baskets early in the game. By the time the first quarter was over, he had 14 points and four rebounds.

“Midway through the first,” Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said, “he should have stopped and put his name on the (Hall of Fame) ballot.”

Gortat finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Steve Nash had 11 points and nine assists to lead Phoenix to a 79-71 victory over Boston on Friday night.

Ray Allen had 14 points and six rebounds for the Celtics, who lost for the sixth time in seven games and fell to 0-4 against the Western Conference. Playing without Rajon Rondo, their most consistent starter this year, the Celtics had their lowest-scoring game of the season.

“We should be better than that,” Rivers said. “It’s on me. If one guy doesn’t play, you should be able to play through it.”

The Suns won their second straight road game, having snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Knicks on Wednesday.

The Celtics took a brief lead, 53-50, midway through the third quarter before Phoenix scored the next 12 points. After Mickael Pie-trus hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to make it 76-71, Gortat lumbered down the lane and drew a foul from Kevin Garnett before sinking two free throws to clinch it.

It was Gortat’s seventh consecutive double-double.

Paul Pierce scored 12 points with six assists and Garnett had 10 points and five rebounds. Avery Bradley scored 10 points with four rebounds and one assist while filling in for Rondo, who was injured Wednesday night when he took a hard foul from Toronto’s Linas Kleiza while going to the basket.

An MRI was negative. Rivers wouldn’t put a timetable on Rondo’s return, though the point guard was hoping to be back for Sunday’s game against the Washington Wizards.

Keyon Dooling missed his fifth straight game because of a right knee injury.

The Celtics finished with 20 assists — same as the Suns — but just four from three different players at the point.

“We didn’t have our starting point guard. We didn’t have our backup point guard,” Rivers said, adding that he tried to run plays through Pierce, Garnett and Marquis Daniels. “I mean, we were just searching.”

MAGIC 92, LAKERS 80: Dwight Howard scored 21 points and grabbed 23 rebounds, as Orlando survived a tough shooting performance to beat visiting Los Angeles.

BULLS 114, CAVALIERS 75: Luol Deng scored 21 points, Carlos Boozer added 19 points and 14 rebounds, and Chicago won easily without Derrick Rose, who missed his third straight game because of a strained left big toe.

TRAIL BLAZERS 94, RAPTORS 84: LaMarcus Aldridge had a season-high 33 points and a career-best 23 rebounds as Portland won at Toronto, handing the Raptors their seventh consecutive loss.

76ERS 90, HAWKS 76: Jrue Holiday had 16 points and 11 assists, and Thaddeus Young had 20 points as Philadelphia beat visiting Atlanta.

NUGGETS 108, WIZARDS 104: Al Harrington scored a season-high 29 points, and Danilo Gallinari and Ty Lawson each had 21 to lead Denver to a win at Washington.

KINGS 88, SPURS 86: Tyreke Evans scored 23 points as Sacramento won at San Antonio.

GRIZZLIES 98, PISTONS 81: Rudy Gay scored 24 points as visiting Memphis held off a second-half rally by Detroit.

BUCKS 100, KNICKS 86: Brandon Jennings scored a season-high 36 points as Milwaukee won on the road for the first time this season.