5 Leftover thoughts on Celtics-Rockets: Rozier stepped up, the rebounding returned and a surprising stat

Stray thoughts and observations in the wake of re-watching the Celtics’ comeback win over the Rockets on Thursday night

1. Shane Larkin is having himself a very nice month of December: The reserve point guard couldn’t hit a shot during most of November (23.5 percent from the field) and that cost him a spot in the rotation for a few games, in combination with a back injury. Things have changed in December though. Larkin’s 3-point shot is falling again (50 percent from downtown), which has enabled Brad Stevens to confidently play him without worrying about him dragging down the bench offense. Larkin’s strength has always been his defense and that was on full display against the Rockets on Thursday night. Despite being on the receiving end of a few questionable calls from the two-man officiating crew, Larkin was an absolute pest in the second half during his few minutes of action, which enabled the Celtics maintain their defensive intensity while Marcus Smart rested on the bench. With the avalanche of injuries we’ve seen lately, the value of depth at the end of the bench is being tested for the Celtics and Larkin’s living up to being an ideal third-string guard option who can reliably contribute to winning games.

2. The offensive rebounding returned: The Celtics have struggled on the glass for the past month and that includes the offensive end of things. They rank 28th in the NBA in offensive rebounding rate in December, and a consistent lack of second chance opportunities has factored into the steady stretch of scoring droughts we’ve seen of late. During the second half of Thursday night, the C’s defensive intensity returned in the second half and that effort translated to the offensive glass as well. Despite shooting 51 percent from the field after the break, the hosts grabbed nine of their ten offensive rebounds on the night in the second half, taking advantage of the Rockets small ball lineup and the absence of Clint Capela. They turned those boards into eight crucial second chance points, which helped paved the way to the 25-point comeback. I’ll be very curious to see whether this pattern continues when the Celtics have fresher legs over the next couple months, since they started the season hitting the offensive glass very well.

3. A comeback that wasn’t reliant on the 3-ball: While the Rockets were misfiring from all over the floor from downtown on Thursday night, the Celtics weren’t much better on the perimeter in the second half. They shot just 23.5 percent from deep (4-of-17) during the comeback, which constantly kept the team from getting over the hump and taking the lead in the final five minutes of the game (Smart and Kyrie Irving were a combined 0-of-7). This is a encouraging number from a Celtics perspective, since they were able to pull off this kind of a turnaround with the aid of a hot stretch of shooting. Instead, Boston pounded Houston in the paint (36-10 edge in second half), to will their way back into the game.

4. The Celtics beat up on Ryan Anderson: The high priced power forward is a terrific 3-point shooter, but he’s also a major liability on the defensive end. Once the Celtics went small in the second half, the Rockets had no place to hide him and the C’s took advantage. Whether it was Smart driving to the hoop on him or Al Horford and Marcus Morris getting some openings out of the pick-and-roll, Anderson helped the Celtics offense gain some confidence down the stretch, to the point that he had to benched during crunch time on the defensive end. It was refreshing to see the Celtics taking advantage of the mismatch on a regular basis to propel the turnaround.

5. Terry Rozier was a sneaky big part of the run: The third-year guard scored a team-high eight points while playing the entire fourth quarter. He also had a couple of huge steals that led to easy transition baskets. The 23-year-old finished his night with 13 points in 20 minutes, his third consecutive game with a double-digit scoring performance. Rozier’s 3-point shooting is also quietly climbing (36 percent for season) but the consistent energy he’s bringing off the bench right now enabled the Celtics to finish off this brutal schedule stretch of December on a positive note.