Jason Richardson and the Phoenix Suns had no trouble putting their only loss of the season behind them, even against unbeaten Boston.

One game after going scoreless for just the third time in his career, Richardson had 34 points and 10 rebounds to lead Phoenix to a 110-103 victory over the Celtics on Friday night. Richardson hit a 3-pointer for the Suns' first points and scored 14 in the first quarter alone.

"They could see after the first that I had the stroke going," Richardson said. "In this offense, every night it's going to be someone different. It was a feel tonight, like everything you throw up is going to go in. I wanted to come out, be aggressive and take it from there."

Steve Nash had 16 points with 12 assists for Phoenix, shaking loose to hit a 3-pointer with 51 seconds left after Boston closed an 11-point fourth-quarter gap to four points. Amare Stoudemire added 22 points, while Richardson finished 6 for 7 from 3-point range.

Richardson was suspended by the NBA for the first two games of the season following his conviction on drunken driving charges. In his third game back he went 0-for-4 in a loss to Orlando - just the third time in 595 career games he's played in that he didn't score.

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

Kevin Garnett had a season-high 26 points for Boston - the most he's scored since missing the end of the 2008-09 season and the playoffs with strained ligaments in his right knee.

Boston was trying to start 7-0 for the second time in three years. The Celtics won their first eight games in 2007-08 - and first 13 at home - en route to their record 17th NBA title.