The Boston Celtics (29-10) can’t be defeated by a 26-point gap either, and win 99:98 (BOXSCORE) against the Houston Rockets (25-8) after a crazy finish. Their mini-crisis continues. One of the reasons for this is that James Harden suffers two serious dropouts.
What a start for the rockets! The first 12 points of the game were all scored by the guests, a few minutes later the lead grew to 17 points, and by the end of the first quarter there was a difference of 20 points (32:12 for Houston). Afterwards, it didn’t necessarily get any better from the Celtics’ point of view. Boston simply did not find the entire first half of the game.
They were defensively overtaxed with the dynamic rockets backcourt consisting of James Harden and Eric Gordon. In the meantime, the two guards had more points than the entire Celtics team. This was also due to the hosts’ weak attack, which caused numerous mistakes.
Accordingly, it was hardly surprising that Houston was able to extend its lead to 26 points in the first half. The absence of Chris Paul (Leiste), Luc Mbah a Moute (Shoulder) and Clint Capela (Breakage of the ocular sinus bone) caused by injury was hardly noticeable.
Celtics, on the other hand, would have enjoyed the presence of Jaylen Brown. The Shooting Guard missed the second game in a row due to knee problems. In his absence Kyrie Irving with 26 points and Jayson Tatum (19) fought against the hot rockets – with success! Irving in particular brought the Celts back into the game with strong drives.
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Boston came back with a 20:4 race, but at the beginning of the final section the Celtics were suddenly trailing by only 7 points. Now Houston made one mistake after another and the good rhythm from the first half was gone. About three minutes before the final siren, Boston even shortened to one point.
After Harden’s free throws from Harden, Houston was in front with 3 points, two quick Tatum points later Harden tried to run free on the inbound play – and started an offensive foul! The Celtics actually got the ball back and Horford (9 points, 8 rebounds) put the hosts in the lead for the first time this evening with a post-move.
Shortly after, the Deja-Vu. Again Inbounds-Play for the Rockets, Harden tried to run free again. Again the offensive foul was whistled at him. Although Horford missed none of his free throws, the Rockets’ last desperate three of their own half was also unsuccessful.
Boston snatched the Rockets away from their noses the victory, which was no longer considered possible. Harden, with his two dropouts in the final seconds, won the game in favour of Celtics, his 34 points (7/27 FG), 10 assists and 6 rebounds were therefore worth little, as were Eric Gordon’s 24 points (4/14 threesomes). Despite the 26-point lead in the meantime, Houston had to accept the fourth bankruptcy in a row.
Boston Celtics vs. Houston Rockets: Click here for the BOXSCORE!
Kyrie Irving. Despite the 26-point gap, the Point Guard was apparently not at any point in the debate. On the one hand Irving brought the Celtics closer to Houston with his sometimes spectacular drives and on the other hand he created a great atmosphere in the TD Garden. It was not without reason that there were many “MVP, MVP”calls through the arena in the second half.
James Harden. The 28-year-old experienced a second half to forget. After the great start into the game, Harden (and his colleagues) had to wait for the break. Nevertheless, he always and over and over again pulled back from bad positions or after one-on-ones with little promise of success. Without success. His two offensive fouls in the final seconds finally broke the rockets’ necks.
Head coach Brad Stevens changed his defensive concept against Harden a little bit in the second half. At the beginning of the game almost every Pick & Roll was switched from “The Beard”, which regularly punished Harden with strong drives. In the further course of the game Boston did not use the many switches, so the rockets came to the zone less often. In addition, Irving, Smart, Rozier and Co. stick extremely tightly to Harden and Gordon so that they both came out of their good rhythm. In the second half, Harden sank only 3 of his 17 attempts out of the field.