HOUSTON -- The Celtics once again played one of the best games of their season on Saturday night, but came up short against the NBA's best. The Rockets erased a 113-107 deficit with four minutes remaining in the game behind some clutch defensive plays from Chris Paul, and timely shooting, which allowed the hosts to escape with their 15th straight win, a 123-120 victory over the C's. Marcus Smart missed a potential game-tying 3 as the buzzer sounded.
The loss spoiled a banner night for several members of the Boston bench unit, which combined to score 65 of Boston's 117 points thanks to standout performances from Marcus Morris (21 points), Greg Monroe (18 points) and Terry Rozier (17 points).
Boston's All-Stars couldn't manage to close the deal down the stretch however as some missed shots from Kyrie Irving and a costly turnover by Al Horford with 22 seconds remaining helped to seal a disappointing defeat for the C's.
Eric Gordon had a game-high 28 points off the bench for Houston in the win, whiles James Harden added 26 points. Morris led eight Boston players in double figures with 21 points. The Celtics had their four-game winning streak snapped.
GAME: No. 64 of 82
WHO: Celtics (44-19) vs. Rockets (28-33)
WHEN: 8:30 EST
WHERE: Toyota Center
RADIO: 98.5 the Sports Hub
TV: ABC
Projected starters
Celtics
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Jaylen Brown
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Al Horford
C: Aron Baynes
Rockets
PG: Chris Paul
SG: James Harden
F: Trevor Ariza
F: PJ Tucker
C: Clint Capela
Second Half Notes
- Good minutes early from the starters but some questionable officiating caused the Celtics to lose their composure for a few minutes. Jaylen Brown was whistled for a tech after an awful foul call and Brad Stevens and Marcus Morris also added to the tally in the frame with techs.
- Both stars (Harden and Irving) struggled with off shooting nights for most of the game. They each shot under 40 percent from the field, with Harden getting the majority of his points at the FT line.
- Eric Gordon (28 points in the first 42 minutes of game) really rescued the Rockets with his scoring hot 3-point shooting (7-of-11) which bailed out the rest of the cold shooting Rockets.
- Greg Monroe and Marcus Morris played the best games of their seasons with 21 and 18 points respectively to lead a scoring hot bench unit that carried the Celtics offense out of trouble for much of the second half.
- Very nice offensive start by Jaylen Brown who got going nicely with a layup (like the Golden State game) and proceeded to knock down a couple jumpers as well. Seven points on three made baskets to begin.
- Al Horford was utilitized early in the post against PJ Tucker and Trevor Ariza but couldn't get anything going.
- Nice halfcourt defense early containing the Rockets offense and limiting shooters, but turnovers came back to bite Boston. A couple bad passes from Kyrie Irving opened the door for a couple transition 3s for Harden and Ariza.
- A few tough no-calls and continued turnovers by starting unit (five in total) helped Houston open up a nine-point lead but the Celtics' second unit (plus Tatum) came to the rescue in the final minutes of the frame, closing out the quarter with a 10-0 run to take a 32-30 lead.
- Marcus Smart continued to create with his pass nicely in the paint by finding shooters.
- Marcus Morris looks like a changed man defensively as well, working hard to contest shooters and rotate much better than before the break.
- Early surprise minutes for Greg Monroe against Nene with Daniel Theis still limited by a hamstring. He made his free throws early and did nicely with defensive rotations. He also took advantage of mismatches in the post against smaller defenders.
- At one span of second quarter, the Celtics bench unit (plus Tatum instead of Ojeleye) scored on 11 consecutive possessions, putting together a 20-3 run at one point.
- Houston got back into the game at the free throw line (11 attempts) once they got the Celtics into the penalty. Still it was a wildly efficient quarter of basketball by the second unit and the starters struggled to keep pace with it.
- Terry Rozier played the final 15 minutes of first half. He finished with a team-high 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
- Celtics bench scored 33 of 64 first half points for Celtics on 60 percent shooting.
- Al Horford is probably getting involved a bit too much in the offense in the first half. He made his bunnies at the rim but struggled to get up good shots in postups.
- The Celtics had one of their biggest comeback wins of the year in the first matchup between these two teams back in December, a 26-point rally in a 99-98 win.
- The Rockets are in the midst of a 14-game winning streak, one shy of matching the second-longest in franchise history. They also currently hold a 10-game home winning streak.
- Ryan Anderson (hip) and Brandan Wright (leg) have been ruled out for the Rockets. Daniel Theis (hamstring) is probable to play for the Celtics after missing Wednesday's win.
- Full preview breakdown can be read here as I break down four things to watch for.