BSJ Game Report: Celtics 116, Rockets 107 - Porzingis leads C's to an ugly win in Houston

Everything you need to know about the Celtics win over the Rockets, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

Both teams started slow but Kristaps Porzingis caught fire to drop 15 in the first and power a 10-point lead. Houston closed the gap against Boston’s bench but Derrick White took over when he checked back in to push lead to 15 at halftime. The third quarter was an issue again and Houston got the lead all the way down to five, but Boston got it back to 10 to start the fourth. The Rockets wouldn’t quit, though, making another run and cutting the lead to three, but Porzingis helped the C’s hold on. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Winning ugly: This was not one to write home about. The Celtics have done a really nice job all season of responding well to adversity and making even tough games feel different than they have in the past. This one felt a little reminiscent of the past. It felt like they were cool with the 15-point halftime lead and they were going to take it easy and save themselves for tomorrow’s game in Dallas. 

- Porzingis saves the Celtics: He scored six points after the game was cut to 93-90 as part of a 14-6 run to get the lead back up to double digits and back under control. He tacked on a block, his fifth of the night, to keep it there with a couple minutes to go. 

- Jayson Tatum off again: He shot 4-17, 1-6 from 3, on his way to 18 points. He did get to the line 12 times, and he probably could have gone more often. The refs were allowing a lot, especially when Boston drove, and maybe there was some frustration that played into Tatum’s performance, but he has hit a little bit of a rough patch. 

TURNING POINT 

Joe Mazzulla called a timeout after the Rockets cut it to three and Boston immediately came out and scored five quick points. Things got a little frantic after that, but this is where the Celtics regained control of the fourth quarter. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Kristaps Porzingis: Via Dick Lipe: “There have only been 3 games in NBA regular season history in which a player has had at least 32 points, 6 3's and 5 blocks.  Kristaps Porzingis has done it twice, including tonight, and Brook Lopez did it in 2017.” 

- Derrick White: He is just so damn good, and that's because he can just adjust his game to be whatever the team needs on a given night. He finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds, and he dominated a late second-quarter stretch that took the game back from an early Houston run and pushed the lead to 15. 

- This blocked shot by White: 

Play until the whistle sounds, kids. 

- Jaylen Brown’s triple double: It wasn’t a typical scoring night for him, but moving the ball and creating for his teammates was great. 

“He's becoming a better playmaker,” Mazzulla said after the game. “There was a couple plays that were a direct learning experience from the last game with the reads and then trying to change matchups and finding where that matchup is. And I thought Jaylen did a good job of just playing with poise, using his speed to generate a cross match, finding it, and then making the right play. So he continues to get better and better.”

- Payton Pritchard: He played better than the nine points he put up. In fact, I was shocked that he only finished with nine, but he hit some big shots. 

- Luke Kornet: He had nine rebounds, five offensive, and he blocked three shots. Two of those came in the fourth quarter as part of a big defensive stretch that helped the Celtics keep their lead. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- The second half: Boston lost the half by six, allowing Houston to get seven more shots, two more offensive rebounds, and two more free throws. Boston lost the points in the paint by 14, second chance points by six, and fast break points by two. 

- Jayson Tatum: This was his 11th game this season with a negative +/-. After finding his 3-point stroke earlier in the month, he’s gone as cold as the air outside in his last four games, shooting just 6-28, 21.4%. I liked him getting to the rim early on, but he kind of gave that up. He got into the paint for shots six times in the first half but just twice in the second half. 

- Brown's off-the-backboard dunk attempt: I'll let Jaylen explain this one. 

Okay, we can all get a good laugh out of it, I guess. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- The Celtics need to answer their own challenge

“This is the part of the regular season where you’ve got to embrace because you get complacent, and you can get mentally checked out. But we’re trying to make sure that we’re all engaged. This is where you build your endurance for long playoff drives. So this is the part of the regular season I think is the most important going into All-Star break.” 

That's Jaylen Brown after beating the Spurs, laying it out there for everyone to see. I’ve gone on and on about this time of year, so there's no need to hammer that point home any harder at this point. Everyone is aware. 

Now they have to actually do something about it. Complacent and mentally checked out was too big a part of that third quarter, and now the Celtics have to go into Dallas tomorrow night and face a team that ended up having four days off. They could have come out of the half strong and put this game away, but they turned the ball over and looked slow and disinterested. 

I’m not going to get too worked up over it because this kind of game has been infrequent. But I’m not going to dismiss it either. 

“The trick isn't to get caught up in trying to prevent it. I know that. It’s never going to happen,” Mazzulla recently said. “Don't get caught up in trying to be perfect. Just constantly have an awareness of, ‘Are we playing the way we should be playing or are we not? How quickly do we get back to that?’”

The Celtics survived this one, which is good and bad. It’s good that they didn’t lose, but it’s bad that they looked as similar as they did to last season and got away with it. 

There is a line that Boston hasn’t really approached this season. It’s the line of how little effort they can give and still win, something they really tried to find last season. They got close to it in this one. 

This game on its own can just be filed in the “ugly win” category if they avoid the complacency moving forward. They need to follow their own words and answer their own challenge.

Next up: Boston heads to Dallas for a back-to-back tomorrow night