Final: Rockets 115, Celtics 104 -- Late charge falls short after another ugly first half

The Celtics showed some life after an embarrassing first-half performance, but it was too little too late against the firepower of the Rockets offense. James Harden scored a game-high 42 points while Eric Gordon tied a career-high with eight 3s, helping the visitors hold off a late charge from Boston on their way to a 115-104 victory. Kyrie Irving had a team-high 24 points for the Celtics who trailed by as many as 28 points in the second half before being rallied back into the game by the bench unit in the fourth quarter. Jaylen Brown was terrific off the bench with 15 points and 6 rebounds and Al Horford added 19 points for the C's who have now dropped five of their last six games since the All-Star Break.

First Half Notes

• Rockets offense doing whatever it wants early, getting open looks from 3 and getting to the rim at will


• Harden and Gordon have been red hot combining for 24 of first 28 points for the visitors.


• Celtics offense has been a walking turnover, coughing up the ball six times in first eight minutes, which led to 10 Rockets point, mostly of the live ball variety


• Really tough defensive quarter for Tatum, who was blown by a couple times and didn’t rotation correctly.


• Marcus Morris turned the ball over twice and had a couple different miscues as well on D.


• Aron Baynes made his return midway through the quarter and looked fairly rusty early, getting blown by on the perimeter and airballing his first 3. A tough first matchup for him


• C’s open the game 1-of-11 from the perimeter, mixing in plenty of ugly shot selection. They are shooting just 26 percent from 3 since the break.


• Rockets offense continues to be a well oiled machine, punishing the C’s for any mistake. Even when C’s defend Harden well, he has been finding a way too score.


• Hayward has been horrific tonight, failing to find his rhythm and looking overmatched from a speed standpoint.


• Good energy from Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier early, but the usual poor shot selection mixed in makes their effort counterproductive.


• Harden and Gordon tie the Celtics in first half with 43 points as Houston leads by 22.

• The Celtics are expected to have Aron Baynes back in the lineup after a 11-game absence due to a bruised foot. The team went just 5-6 with him sidelined.


• The Rockets have won four straight games, pulling them into the four seed in the Western Conference behind the stellar play of James Harden, who is making a very strong push at the MVP.


• Boston has the worst offense in the NBA since the All-Star Break, in large part thanks to a league-worst 3-point shooting mark (27 percent) and free throw attempts (16.4) over that stretch.