The Boston Celtics have a big road game Saturday night against James Harden, Chris Paul and the red-hot Houston Rockets. Here are 3 keys to getting a win at the Toyota Center.
Riding a four-game winning streak, the Boston Celtics roll into Houston Saturday night to take on James Harden, Chris Paul and the red-hot Rockets.
Houston, a team coming into the game on a 14-game winning streak, are looking to avenge Boston’s 99-98 win back on December 28, 2017. In that game, the Celtics eclipsed a 26-point deficit to stun Harden and the Rockets.
While Kyrie Irving and the Celtics were dominated most of the game, they got back in the game and ultimately won it by playing good team defense. The Rockets, however, did not have Chris Paul and Clint Capela, so this time around they will have to play even better defense. If they don’t, it could be a long night unless the Celtics can continue their hot streak offensively.
In this matchup between two of the top teams in the NBA, there are three keys to the Celtics limiting the Rockets flare and ultimately winning this game.
Kyrie Irving vs. Chris Paul
Kyrie Irving is coming into this game on fire. Since the All-Star break, the Celtics point guard has been on an offensive surge. He has scored 30 or more points in three of his last five games, averaging 27 points on 54 percent shooting from the floor in those games.
He is focused and will have to be as locked in as he has been during this recent stretch. Going up against an All-Star caliber point guard like Chris Paul, that shouldn’t be a problem.
"“He’s very locked in,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said following Wednesday night’s victory over Charlotte. “He went into the break hurting a little bit for how we play it. I think that that was a shared – a feeling shared by all of us, on how our team performed on the last few days leading up to the break, and I thought that he hopefully had time to relax and kind of get away for a minute. But clearly when we came back on Wednesday, we were ready to go, and he was as locked in as anybody.”"
Before the All-Star break, Kyrie Irving challenged his team to respond in the wake of their slide heading into the break. The team has certainly done that on both ends of the court. Most impressively, the offense has been flowing at a high level, a level the team will have to maintain to match the Rockets.
In this game, Irving must outperform Chris Paul and match James Harden offensively. If he struggles, the Celtics will have a tough time staying in this game, unless someone else steps up big time on the offensive end.
Contain James Harden
There is no stopping James Harden unless you can force him to stop himself. That is exactly what Marcus Smart did in the first matchup.
It was back-to-back offensive fouls on Harden that enabled the Celtics to pull off that epic comeback. Smart was in the middle of them both as he frustrated Harden into committing both fouls.
This time around, you better believe Harden will be out to make amends for those two mistakes. The NBA’s leading scorer and MVP candidate will present a heavy challenge for the Celtics’ defense. It is a challenge Smart is looking forward to.
"“I love it,” Smart said, via ESPN. “It’s an opportunity for me to challenge myself on the defensive end and each and every day I’m up for those type of challenges. …”"
Smart went on to acknowledge how hard a scorer like Harden is to stop. He hopes to slow him down and continue to frustrate him. As motivated as Harden will be in this game, his emotions can get the best of him like they did in the final minutes of that game in December.
How Marcus Smart holds up and controls his own emotions will be a key to the Boston Celtics success.
More all-around scoring
The Boston Celtics simply can’t stand around and watch Kyrie Irving play offense. Coming off a 134 point performance against the Charlotte Hornets, the C’s got offensive contributions from everyone.
In that game, seven Celtics players scored in double digits, including 14 points from Greg Monroe. In all, the bench was very productive. Along with Monroe’s production, Marcus Morris added 15 points, Terry Rozier poured in 14 and Marcus Smart scored 10.
With how deep a team Houston is, the Celtics will need that kind of output from the bench to keep pace with the Rockets. They will also need solid performances out of Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Al Horford.
Going up against Clint Capela, Horford will have to show up on both ends of the floor in this one. Boston will also need solid performances from Aron Baynes and Monroe down low to keep Houston from scoring in the paint.
Game Notes
The Boston Celtics hope to continue their winning ways against the best team in the Western Conference. In the last meeting, the Celtics rallied back from 26 points down to beat the Rockets 99-98.
Projected starting lineup
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G – Kyrie Irving
G – Jaylen Brown
F- Jayson Tatum
F – Al Horford
C – Aron Baynes
Who’s Hot
Kyrie Irving has been simply spectacular since the All-Star break. In averaging 27 points per game in the team’s last five games, Irving is once again inserting himself in MVP talks.
Off the bench, Marcus Morris has had the hot hand. With a consistent jump shot, Morris has led a Boston Celtics bench that has been outscoring their opponents during this stretch. His hot hand will be valuable in Saturday night’s matchup against the Rockets.
How to watch Celtics vs. Rockets online
When: Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 8:30 p.m. ET
Where: The Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Live Stream: Watch NBC Sports, fuboTV
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Prediction
As much as I want to pick the Boston Celtics, I think the Houston Rockets avenge the loss in December. The C’s will keep it close and even lead during stretches, but led by James Harden, the Rockets win this one in a shootout.