Final: Celtics 107, Rockets 97- C's get first win

Game 3: Celtics vs. Rockets
Toyota Center
7:00 PM, NBC Sports Boston, NBA TV

PROJECTED STARTERS

Boston: Marcus Smart, Dennis Schröder, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Robert Williams

Houston: Jalen Green, Kevin Porter, Jr., Jae’Sean Tate, Christian Wood, Daniel Theis

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

- The Celtics are without Jaylen Brown (left knee soreness) and Romeo Langford (left calf tightness). The Rockets are missing John Wall.

- Horford's minutes restriction is being raised from 25 to 30

GOING A LITTLE DEEPER

- The Celtics are hoping Brown’s knee issue is minor, but they’re not taking any chances since it’s the same knee that bothered him last season. 

“Obviously being out with COVID for that time, coming back and playing in those two games he felt a little something last game, so just want to be cautious with it,” Ime Udoka said. “Got a back to back coming up, so get him an extra day or rest and hopefully he'll be good to go tomorrow. But we'll see. He felt it a little bit in the game against Toronto. Tried to rest it and thought he'd be able to go, and then this morning he didn't feel great.”

This is a little concerning, especially since Brown came back into the season a little lighter and saying he felt pretty good. It’s not a surprise that Brown was sore considering his first game back after the long COVID absence was a 46 minute, double overtime game. We can play the hindsight game here and question whether that was worth it.

“He built himself up, worked out hard to get ready for New York opening night,” Udoka said. “I think that combined with the double overtime game, and then he started to feel it a little last game, but like I said something he's dealt with in the past, usually calms down pretty quickly and he's back in a day or two.”

- Horford’s minutes will increase, which is great news for the Celtics. He was Boston’s best player against Toronto. 

“He felt good, he looked great, he looked like he had a pop in his step,” Udoka said. “We wanted to keep him between 20 and 25 and he was 24-and-a-half so it was perfect. He actually wanted to stay in and keep playing, but we wanted to be smart with him, similar to Jaylen. He feels good and we’ll increase it little by little, but nothing drastic and keep him in the 30-minute range tonight.”

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

- Turnovers: They have plagued the Celtics since the beginning of the preseason. Boston can’t come out with a casual attitude against a bad Rockets team and expect to get away with it. They’re not good, but they’re young and athletic, and if the Celtics give them confidence, they’ll be in for a fight. 

“Turnovers and rebounds ... (Toronto) had 20 more shots than us at halftime,” Udoka said before the game. “They had 15 more offensive rebounds at halftime. We had 12 turnovers. So those numbers really hurt us.”

- Transition defense: The Celtics have been awful in transition to start the season. They were outworked against the Raptors, which is inexcusable. They have to set a strong defensive tone and get back. The Rockets will want to run because they’re young and athletic. Boston needs to shut that down. If they do, this could be an easy win.  

- Easy shots: The Celtics are shooting 40% from the field in their first two games. They need to get some easy shots before they start settling for jumpers. 

Marcus Smart has had 12 potential assists in each of Boston’s first two games, four more than he averaged per game last season. That speaks to him trying to facilitate more, but also to how  poorly Boston is shooting. The Celtics need to flip a lot of these potential assists into actual ones by making shots. The best way to make more shots is to find your way into the paint. 

GAME THREAD

Stick around for more comments below as the game goes on. Feel free to add your two cents in the comments.