Boston Celtics fall to Rockets: 3 takeaways from an overtime thriller
The Boston Celtics fell to James Harden, Russell Westbrook and the Houston Rockets in an overtime thriller at TD Garden Saturday night.
The Boston Celtics may not be the favorites to come out of the Eastern conference, but they are certainly a team proving they can matchup with Western conference opponents in any potential NBA Finals matchup.
Folks in Milwaukee or Toronto don’t want to hear it, but the Celtics have had some memorable matchups against the top teams in the Western Conference.
As games against the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers clearly ranking in the top 10 regular season games, the Celtics and Houston Rockets battled in a thriller Saturday night.
Led by Jayson Tatum’s 32-point effort and Jaylen Brown’s miraculous shot to send the game into overtime, the Celtics eventually fell to the Rockets 111-110.
In an exciting game between two teams that like to play small ball, Rockets star guard Russell Westbrook proved to be too much as he led all scorers with 41 points. Harden was somewhat held in check going 7-for-24 from the field shooting, but Houston proved to be the more physical team on this night.
In a back-and-forth game in which the home team led by as many as 17 points, the lack of production from the Celtics bench again became a concern as the reserves scored just four points total. Certainly not enough against a playoff-caliber team like the Houston Rockets.
With Kemba Walker sitting on the sidelines once again, the overall effort was good. Brown contributed with 22 points and Marcus Smart added 26 points in the loss, but overall another impressive showing from the Boston Celtics despite not finishing the Rockets off.