BSJ Game Report: Boston Celtics 108, Houston Rockets 90 - C's avoid late collapse, pull away from bad team

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics 108-90 win over the Houston Rockets with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics predictably started slow in the first quarter, with only Jayson Tatum able to generate any semblance of offense. The Rockets got to the rim against a very casual Celtics defense that didn’t tighten up until later in the quarter. The Celtics did start to get some separation in the second quarter, but the real damage was done out of halftime. 

Al Horford and Jaylen Brown combined to do the bulk of the damage and the Celtics won the quarter 34-16, but Houston opened up the fourth on a 10-4 run. The C’s, who hadn’t made wholesale substitutions yet, held strong and made one final push into garbage time. Aaron Nesmith came into the game with Tatum still on the floor and hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put it away.

HEADLINES

Ime Udoka changes his 4th quarter approach: Udoka had been going with bench units to start the fourth with big leads and that has not gone well. In this one, he started with Tatum on the floor and he soon brought Jaylen Brown in when the Rockets were making their run. He called two timeouts in the first three minutes and ultimately it paid off.

“(Brown) just wanted to get one more run out there,” Udoka said of reinserting his returning star. “And we just kept those guys in hoping to build the lead up and get them out halfway through that quarter.”

Classic good team vs bad team game: The Rockets have now lost 15 straight games for a reason. The Celtics always seemed to know it would only take one good quarter to put this team away, but they tried to shoot their way to that lead to start. The whole team got more aggressive in the third quarter, and 12 good minutes was all they needed.

TURNING POINT

Jaylen Brown went on a personal 10-0 run with two free throws, a wild layup, and two 3-pointers to turn a 12 point game into a 22 point game. A building that had been mostly quiet finally exploded, and the Celtics, minus the start of the fourth quarter, were in control.

FOUR UP

Jayson Tatum: The long-range shot was off, but he still managed to go to the line nine times (he hit them all) and drop his fourth-straight 30 point game. 

“The shots that he was getting, he's knocking them down now, being extra aggressive, I think, attacking the basket a little bit more,” Udoka said. “We knew it would flip eventually. But he's also finding guys passing the ball extremely well. So very well-rounded games, in general. The scoring is there because of the made shots but we never overreacted to that in the first place.” 

Jaylen Brown: A slow start for Brown, but that third-quarter explosion was much-needed. He was very clearly tired and he looked at points like he was struggling a little. 

“He kind of pushed through whatever was going through physically,” Horford said. “He was able to push through it and you could see it, and it was good that he had some success.” 

Brown says he felt tightness in that hamstring during the game, so we'll see how that responds tomorrow.

Romeo Langford: He quietly had a very nice game for the Celtics. “I feel like Romeo gave us a good look off the bench,” Horford said. “Timely offensive rebounds, and scoring some baskets, as well.”

He hit a couple more corner 3-pointers, including one to help reestablish the blowout. Both offensive rebounds came in that same fourth-quarter stretch. 

Robert Williams: The other starter back from injury, Williams grabbed 15 rebounds, one short of his career-best. 

“His energy was great,” Horford said. “He got some tough rebounds, he was very active, it was just good to see him playing out there, and he impacted the game in a big way for us.”

ONE DOWN

Enes Kanter: He really wasn’t that bad, but he was actually a -8 while playing non-blowout minutes. I also didn’t want to leave this empty again. 

TOP PLAYS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

Let’s revisit the end-of-month plan I laid out last week: 

If they beat the bad teams (OKC, Houston, San Antonio), beat Toronto again knowing what they know about them, and grab one of the Atlanta/Los Angeles/Brooklyn games, that’s 5-2 and a 12-9 record heading into December. 

That could put them somewhere around fifth in the conference, even after everything they’ve been through. It would be a roundabout way of getting there, but that’s where most people thought they’d be this season.

OKC and now Houston are in the bag. They already picked up the Atlanta/LA/Brooklyn win and they still have a chance to win another Wednesday night. Even if they don’t, they’re right on track and can stay there with a couple more wins to end the season. 

Meanwhile, at 10-8, The Celtics are now sixth, a half-game behind the fifth-place Charlotte Hornets. So they’re right where I thought they’d be in the standings. 

They’re 8-3 in their last 11 games, and over that time they are a hair behind Phoenix for the best defense in the league and their offense is up to 17. 

So, again, I say they are rounding into what we thought they had a chance to be: A really good defensive team with a middle-of-the-road offense. 

There is obviously still room to mess this up, and this certainly isn’t a victory lap. If anything this is a serving of sorbet; a palate cleanser if you will. The start of the season was so gross that it’s sticking to this team like the b.o. in Seinfeld’s car. 

I’m just trying to wash some of that stink off because they’ve been decent since the Chicago collapse. But just like it was early before when they were bad, it’s also still early as they are starting to look good. The November roller coaster is just the first ride in this theme park. 

There is a very, very tough December stretch coming up. If they can win two of these next three games heading into that, they can be in good position to weather that storm.

“This next (stretch) is gonna tell us a lot ... seven of eight on the road and things like that,” Horford said. “This stretch here we'll learn a lot more about our group. But I do believe that this is a great opportunity and now we are getting healthy, so that's a positive.”