The Houston Rockets hosted the Boston Celtics on a second night of a back-to-back, Monday night. Boston kept things close in the first half, but eventually ran out of gas in Houston. Alperen Sengun led all scorers with 26 points, Jayson Tatum had 19 points and Neemias Queta 16 points for the C’s. Boston now move to 5 and 2 on the season, and Houston go clear in the Western Conference with seven wins and 1 loss.
Boston rested veteran Paul George for the night after a nice road win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday. Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez got the starting nod alongside Derrick White, Jayson Tatum and Neemias Queta for Boston. The Houston Rockets started the game with Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr, and Alperen Sengun.
The full-strength Houston Rockets got off to a good start with five points to start the game. Amen Thompson was aggressive attacking the basket for six quick points. Kevin Durant had a pair of turn-around jumpers to start the game for the home team.
Jayson Tatum was looking to get others involved; fresh off his Eastern Conference player of the week award, he had 2 assists at the six-minute mark. Baylor Scheierman had five points to start the game before he took a seat on the bench.
Mitchell Robinson, Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard were first off the bench for Boston. Robinson would go to the locker room late in the first quarter with a thumb sprain after only playing a few minutes. Tari Eason hit 2 threes off the bench for Houston as they took an early ten-point lead and looked in control.
Boston missed 32 of 44 3-pointers in Orlando last night, and they continued to struggle shooting the ball to start the game with just 1-9 from downtown. Luka Garza got into the game and had a big impact on the scoreboard, hitting two straight triples in just three minutes of play. Boston had tied the game after a quarter of play, 29-29.
Mike Conley started the second quarter in his second game of the year for his new team; he hit a three-pointer before going back to the bench in a very short stint of play.
The Houston Rockets outscored the Celtics by seven points in the second quarter as Jayson Tatum got a rest after playing the first 12 minutes of the game. Alperen Sengun paced the Rockets with twelve points in the half on 6 of 8 shooting from the field, doing most of his damage in the paint.
Luka Garza hit his third 3-pointer of the game from the corner on a wide open attempt, he had 9 points at the half in just eight minutes of play. Mitchell Robinson returned to the court halfway through the second quarter with a strapped hand. The big man peeled off a screen to dunk home a two-hander off a beautiful Jayson Tatum lob pass.
Payton Pritchard was scoreless for 14 minutes of the game before he finally scored from the foul line. The Celtics had 6 turnovers at the half; shooting just 42% from the field and going just 7 of 22 from three. Jayson Tatum led the C’s with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, all 11 players had scored for Boston at the half.
The Boston Celtics started the second half with a pair of big men, Neemias Queta and Mitchell Robinson against the taller Rockets squad. The lineup switch paid off, as Neemias Queta was rolling for Boston with 7 straight points; he hit a rare corner triple and got a pair of tip-ins to start the quarter.
Jayson Tatum and Mitchell Robinson connected on a second thunderous lob of the night as Boston cut Houston’s lead back to one point. Hugo Gonzalez had a breakaway layup attempt blocked by Alperen Sengun on the chase down. Jabari Smith Jr. went down the other end and drilled a three-pointer as Houston went up by 7 points.
Payton Pritchard had a chance to cut Houston’s lead to 2 points, but he missed a wide-open three-pointer. The shooting woes continued for Boston; Derrick White, Sam Hauser and Pritchard were a combined 0-11 from three after 3 quarters of play. Houston took a 9-point lead into the fourth quarter, 73-82 at the end of three.
Marcus Smart flopped on two straight plays to start the fourth quarter, Payton Pritchard converted on just 1 of 2 free throws. Marcus Smart hit a pair of triples, Reed Shepard hit his first points of the game as Joe Mazzulla called a timeout to discuss things, Houston were up 93-79.
Derrick White finally connected on his first 3-pointer of the night, after 26 minutes of game time. Boston ran of legs in this one, Houston’s swarming defenders taking their toll on the second night of a back-to-back. Chris Cenac Jr. and Dillon Mitchell got into the game for the final two minutes as Joe Mazzulla waved the white flag in H-Town.
Boston have a day off before next hosting the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday at 7:30 pm EST at TD Garden.
