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.

Here are three takeaways from the overtime thriller at TD Garden on Saturday night.

Theis still playing large

Boston Celtics big man Daniel Theis finished off his best week ever with another big performance on the glass.

Playing just as physical as the Houston Rockets, Theis tallied 16 rebounds in the 111-110 loss, tying him with Robert Covington for the game high in rebounds.

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In also contributing 8 points and 3 assists, the German big man continues to be one of the highlights of the season for the Boston Celtics.  Labeled as the team’s unsung hero, Daniel Theis is proving the team has the right kind of player in the middle with the style of offense and defense they like to play.

Against a team like the Rockets, Theis is perfect as far as his size goes.  He continues to prove he can be a top rebounder despite being under 6-foot-10 and provides enough scoring offensively for opposing big men to have to account for him.

With Robert Williams being eased back into the mix and the scoring production and rebounding Enes Kanter provides, perhaps the Celtics do have enough with the mixture of those three players.

Perhaps both the Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics are setting a new trend that small ball could possibly win championships when you have versatility in the middle like Daniel Theis.

Jayson Tatum continues to excel

Jayson Tatum didn’t get off to a hot start, but the emerging super star who LeBron James called “a problem” continued to soar Saturday night in front of his hometown crowd, which included Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce.

While Marcus Smart was the star of the game for the Celtics, Tatum did his thing by leading the team with 32 points while going just 9-for-27 from the field, including 4-of-12 from behind the stripe.

There will be nights like those, but the fact he still found a way to score over 30 points shows just how special he is.

What was also special about Saturday night’s performance was the fact that he did other things on the court to help his team have a chance of winning.  Not only did he bang the boards in collecting 13 rebounds, he also dished out 5 assists and 2 steals.

Before the game Celtics coach Brad Stevens highlighted why he believes his young star will be really special.

"“Tatum’s greatest strength to me is his emotional ability to be great in any moment and his ability to quickly learn something,” Stevens said, via NBC Sports Boston.  “That’s why I think he’s got a chance to be really special, but he’d be the first to tell you he’s not finished, and he can still get a lot better because he’s going to see all this stuff.”"

In averaging over 30 points a game over the last month, it is scary to think Jayson Tatum can get a lot better.  The reality is, he can and will as he continues to learn the game and what it takes to play the game on an All-Star level.

On Saturday night, he did other things on the court to help the Boston Celtics compete.  He still scored 32 points, but the true sign of super stardom is when a player starts filling up the stat sheet in other areas besides points.

The shot heard around the world

Sometimes when you wish for a miracle, it actually happens on the basketball court.

In the 111-110 overtime loss to the Houston Rockets Saturday night, Jaylen Brown made that overtime thriller possible with a game-tying three-point shot coming off an intentionally missed free throw by Jayson Tatum and a tip out by Marcus Smart.

At the time it tied the game at 104-all and erupted the TD Garden crowd along with the king of clutch shots himself, Paul Pierce.

Well, take a look:

It didn’t turn out to be a complete miracle, but the fact the Boston Celtics pulled off that kind of play just shows how special the 2019-20 NBA season is becoming for the team in green.

What it also shows is the clutch ability of Brown, who has been having his own All-Star caliber season for the team.  The shot was overshadowed in the loss, but Brown would’ve been the talk of the NBA world on Sunday if he would’ve also nailed the game-winner at the end of overtime

In all, these types of games will help this Boston Celtics team go deep in the playoffs.