POST GAME HOUSTON - AWAY

Celtics Wrap: Boston Can’t Stop James Harden, Falls 127-113 Vs. Rockets

NESN by Joshua Schrock on Thu, Dec 27, 2018 at 10:33PM

Two of the most talented teams in the NBA met at Toyota Center on Thursday and the game didn’t disappoint.

The Boston Celtics’ duel with the Houston Rockets had all the makings of a late spring game, with Houston jumping out to an early 17-point lead before the Celtics roared back to take the lead in the third quarter.

Boston had no answer for the reigning NBA MVP, though, as James Harden poured in 45 points to lead the Rockets to a 127-113 win.

Kyrie Irving led the Celtics with 23 points, while Marcus Morris (19), Jaylen Brown (18), Al Horford (15) and Marcus Smart (13) also notched double figures.

With the loss, the Celtics fall to 20-14, while the Rockets improve to 19-15.

Here’s how it all went down:

STARTING FIVE
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Marcus Smart
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Marcus Morris Sr.
C: Al Horford

ALL ABOUT THE BEARD
The Celtics and Rockets exchanged buckets early on, with Harden tallying eight points early in the frame to give Houston a small edge. With the Rockets leading by four at the midway point, Irving corralled a defensive rebound and found Smart with a nifty pass to cut the lead to 17-15 and force a Houston timeout.

The rest of the quarter belonged to the Rockets, however, as Houston finished the quarter on an 18-9 run to take a 35-24 edge into the second quarter.

Harden was magnificent in the opening frame, tallying 17 points and four assists. Morris led the C’s with six points.

CELTICS HANG TOUGH
Boston’s defense continued to get shredded to open the second quarter.

Austin Rivers and Daniel House knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to immediately swell the lead to 17. The two teams traded buckets for the next 3:01, as a House tip-in gave Houston a 50-33 lead and forced Brad Stevens to take a timeout with just over eight to play in the half.

Boston responded out of the timeout, going on a 14-3 run over 4:18 to trim the lead to six with under four to play. Morris scored or assisted on 10 of the C’s 14 points during the run, canning consecutive triples to cap the spurt.

The C’s continued to outplay the Rockets for the remainder of the period, but were unable to take the lead as Houston held 57-55 advantage at the break.

Harden led all scorers with 17 at the break, while Morris and Irving paced Boston with 12 each.

HEAVYWEIGHT FIGHT
The Celtics finally caught the Rockets early in the third, as Tatum found Horford for an alley-oop to tie the game at 62 with 9:16 left in the stanza.

Houston jumped back out to a 72-66 lead thanks to 3-pointers from Eric Gordon and P.J. Tucker, but the Celtics came right back with a 13-7 run to tie the game at 79 with 3:47 to play.

Harden finally got going again to end the quarter. The star guard hit a stepback 3-pointer over Brown to push Houston’s lead to four. Then, after Irving hit a jumper to cut the lead to two, Harden found Nene for a layup to put the lead to 85-81 with under two to play.

The quarter ended with a flurry as Terry Rozier splashed a triple to cut Houston’s lead to three with 2.4 seconds remaining, but Rivers answered by banking in a 3-pointer of his own at the horn to give Rockets a 92-86 lead.

ROCKETS FINISH
As was the case in the first half, Houston’s bench thoroughly outplayed Boston’s reserves with Harden on the bench. With Gordon running the show, the Rockets went on a 13-6 run over the first 3:20 to take a 13-point lead. Gordon scored or assisted on eight of the Rockets’ 13 points over that span.

After a Brown and-1 cut the lead to 10, Houston answered with a quick 5-0 burst, as Clint Capela put back a Gordon miss and Harden splashed a deep 3-pointer to swell the lead to 15 110-95 with 7:44 to play.

Boston tried to claw its way back into the game, but each time they dented the lead, Harden made a play to stretch the lead back out.

With the lead still at 15, the Celtics made one final push with under four to play. Horford put home a layup and Semi Ojeleye knocked down a triple to cut the deficit to 10. But Harden slammed the door two possessions later when he came down and drew a foul on Ojeyele while shooting a 3-pointer. “The Beard” hit all three free throws to put the icing the on the win for Houston.

PLAY OF THE GAME
The full Rondo.

UP NEXT
The Celtics will take the floor again Saturday when they visit the Memphis Grizzlies. Tip-off from FedEx Forum is set for 8 p.m. ET.

112288

My kingdom for a horse, or a really big athletic man. Please start working Williams into the rotation.

Why Williams got zero minutes when we got outrebounded on the offensive glass 16-1 and maybe more baffles me. Theis is nice but not dandy. We need a full grown man out there at times.

Good news is Brad learned not to have Gordon guarding the Beard. Doubt he'll make that mistake again. In defense of Hayward, he is starting to get some of his offense back. As is Jaylen. Brown played really gritty D and regained his scoring touch. He needed more minutes. He deserves them now. He has regained his attitude.

I don't know why Tatum failed to score. Would have helped. Smart played well. Awesome at times. Morris did too. Irving of course flashed brilliance but not enough to overcome our defensive and rebounding lapses. Still, I love this team. We will rise from the ashes.

When it is your night shooting, it's your night. Sometimes you cannot stop a hot team shooting 3's as the Rockets are a 3 pt shoot happy team. They threw up 45 and netted 18/40%. D Antonio team is not a championship caliber team. Come playoff time, watch the defense tighten forcing and their 3 pt game go into the toilet.

Perhaps the lack of offensive rebounding caused the Celtics to sage in the paint and not protect the arc. Who knows, but the lack of rebounding is a concern. Their center was like a human vacuum cleaner sucking up rebounds with no one pressuring him.......disturbing.

112288

worcester wrote:Why Williams got zero minutes when we got outrebounded on the offensive glass 16-1 and maybe more baffles me. Theis is nice but not dandy. We need a full grown man out there at times.

Good news is Brad learned not to have Gordon guarding the Beard. Doubt he'll make that mistake again. In defense of Hayward, he is starting to get some of his offense back. As is Jaylen. Brown played really gritty D and regained his scoring touch. He needed more minutes. He deserves them now. He has regained his attitude.

I don't know why Tatum failed to score. Would have helped. Smart played well. Awesome at times. Morris did too. Irving of course flashed brilliance but not enough to overcome our defensive and rebounding lapses. Still, I love this team. We will rise from the ashes.

What part of GH’s offense is coming back? I wish to see this and am rooting for him, but didn’t see it.

Hayward is starting to attack the basket once in a while. Baby steps.

Harden had a great game but the impact of this loss paints a disturbing picture of a Boston Celtics team that carries with it a major flaw like Jacob Marley dragging his chains around through eternity.

Carpela with 18 rebounds 9 defensive and 9 offensive
Nene with  6 rebounds 1 offensive

AH with 4 boards 2 offensive
Theis with 4 boards 3 offensive 1 defensive

So our center spot produced 8 rebounds while Houston had 24 rebounds.

Bottom line, Al Horford and Theis or Theis and Al Horford simply do not have the athleticism to rebound the basketball against good centers.  The Rockets had 16 offensive rebounds.

Sooner or later Brad Stevens may wake the F up and realize that rebounding is vital and that he needs to play Williams now.  Then again he may not wake up and if that is the case it is doubtful that Boston will go far in the playoffs this season.

Anyone can see that Al is having issues.  The thing is, he is not a good rebounder with healthy knees.  Baynes is out for a while and Theis, despite his energy is not a center.  There is no one back there to challenge shots at the rim or control the defensive glass.  

Williams should be backing up Al and Theis should be the BU at power forward.  By playing Williams now he will develop quicker and be ready come playoff time.

Also Brad leaves Irving on the bench too long.  Young guys like Irving can play big minutes.  There was a stretch during the game where the tide had turned and you could just see Irving sitting there on the bench wanting to get in the game.  

The book is out on the Celtics.  If you beat them on the glass real good you can beat them.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/goberru01.html


I think Williams isn't in the rotation because he misses too many defensive rotations. Finds himself out of where he should be too often still.

while he does make those athletic blocks, he makes too many other mistakes still to play regular, IMO.

Gordon was starting to drive to the basket without looking at his feet. More intuitive. Less cautious. Still ineffective, but progressing. Made a couple of three's as well.

Dboss, I concur with all you wrote. The book is out on the C's. Outrebound us to win. Williams needs time on the court, not Yabu.

Brad is starting to PMO because any fan in the cheap seats can see we need a center in the game, also that we have one on the bench. Not playing Williams now hurts the C's immediately and in the long term. As I know Brad is far smarter than I am, it must be because he is afraid to cut a veteran's minutes that he doesn't send in the one player who can stop all the easy drives. I'm guessing the player getting deference is Hayward, who IMO, is a marginal rotational player now and even in his best year wasn't worth half what was paid for him. He kills the flow on offense because he's reluctant to take open shots, and he kills the D because he isn't quick enough. I know he's an admirable guy, but so is my brother and if my brother was out there, we'd all be throwing tomatoes at him. If going to Maine isn't a punishment, but a chance to get lots of PT, I say let GH work himself into shape up there and give all his minutes to Williams and Brown. Hawk.

Gordon is scarcely taking Rob's minutes. Theis surely is. Al at the 5 is.

Worcester, I agree Theis and Al are 4s, but at times, we're playing center-less with Hayward on the floor. In those stretches, we're getting pounded. I know Williams is raw, but when he's on the floor, opponents think twice about driving. No one thought twice last night. Baynes will help, but in the meantime, IMHO, send in the rookie and let him learn. Who else on the roster has stuffed Davis twice in a game? As for JB, when he's cold, he's a good defender and helps the team that way. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of GH although he continues to get many minutes, no doubt in the hope he'll begin to click. I'm still hope every time he comes in, but no longer believe. As for lack of rim protector, center, big man, whatever we call it these days, this need has been glaring for so long I'm ready for a last round of Perk. The 3-ball has become dominant, but only when layups are contested. Last night, they weren't. Hawk

I agree with your post. As Red once said, you begin building your team from the center out. Horford was never a true center. He was a guy brought in to try to attract other major talent. Put Al at power forward and you will see Al shine.

Need to get a rim protecting/ rebounding center!

Theis is too small to play center, he is a fantastic defensive forward, but not at center.

Again, AD anyone?

112288

dboss wrote:Harden had a great game but the impact of this loss paints a disturbing picture of a Boston Celtics team that carries with it a major flaw like Jacob Marley dragging his chains around through eternity.

Carpela with 18 rebounds 9 defensive and 9 offensive
Nene with  6 rebounds 1 offensive

AH with 4 boards 2 offensive
Theis with 4 boards 3 offensive 1 defensive

So our center spot produced 8 rebounds while Houston had 24 rebounds.

Bottom line, Al Horford and Theis or Theis and Al Horford simply do not have the athleticism to rebound the basketball against good centers.  The Rockets had 16 offensive rebounds.

Sooner or later Brad Stevens may wake the F up and realize that rebounding is vital and that he needs to play Williams now.  Then again he may not wake up and if that is the case it is doubtful that Boston will go far in the playoffs this season.

Anyone can see that Al is having issues.  The thing is, he is not a good rebounder with healthy knees.  Baynes is out for a while and Theis, despite his energy is not a center.  There is no one back there to challenge shots at the rim or control the defensive glass.  

Williams should be backing up Al and Theis should be the BU at power forward.  By playing Williams now he will develop quicker and be ready come playoff time.  

Also Brad leaves Irving on the bench too long.  Young guys like Irving can play big minutes.  There was a stretch during the game where the tide had turned and you could just see Irving sitting there on the bench wanting to get in the game.  

The book is out on the Celtics.  If you beat them on the glass real good you can beat them.

It's hard to win when they kill you on the boards 54-38.  It's also hard to win when they shoot 40% from 3 and more than 50% of their fgas are 3s.  What bothers me is how many uncontested 3s they got.  

Oh, and the 2nd chance points.  Capela's game was all about him crashing the boards off of Houston misses.  No box outs.  As has been stated by other posters, I do not understand why Williams didn't play.  Is he slow on some rotations?  Yes, and that's why Brad isn't just throwing him into the fire, his rookie year isn't like Tatum's where he's just taking to it like a duck to water, but nobody was stopping Capela.  18 second chance points for Houston croaked us.

James Harden is a basketball abomination.  He deserves Mike (No) D'Antoni.  Is he a great shooter, passer?  Yeah, but I hate everything about his game.  If anyone gets anywhere near him he does that head bob where he acts like he got hit with a 2x4 across the forehead, or he takes a 3 and falls down like he landed on the defender's foot.  If Marcus Smart is the King of Defensive Flops James Harden is the Emperor of Offensive Flops.  Houston took 35 ftas.  Harden took 17, most of them undeserved.  I don't blame him so much as I blame the refs and the league for never, ever learning their lesson.  He's playing you, fools.  For the millionth time, he's playing you.

Speaking of the refs how about Morris getting ejected for saying nothing?  There were 4:38 left in the game and we were down 115-101, so it would have taken a helluva rally to catch them, but still, wtf were the refs thinking?  Morris with a great game until the refs decided it was too great.

A great game by Jaylen Brown.  18 points on 7-12.  He was 1-4 from 3 but I'm going to live with that.  He played with great energy and competitiveness.  I just learned that Jaylen's hand has been hurt for the last month.  Maybe Brad should sit him down for a week or two and let it heal?

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
about 9 hours ago
Jaylen has been in noticeable pain on his right wrist for the last couple weeks, but it sounds like it’s becoming an even bigger issue. Between this and the foot sprain to open the year (and the fall and the illness) he has had a brutal run of health issues this season.


I like Theis but I'm starting to see him for what he is now.  He's a 4, playing 5.  That worked in Germany but it isn't here.  He's trying hard, he's rotating well, he just doesn't have the body.  Without Baynes we are really, really thin under the basket.  C'mon Brad, let Williams compete.  Yabby got 5 minutes, and I thought he did pretty well too, but he can't do what The Time Lord can.  I know that Brad is annoyed that everybody wants to throw lobs to Williams, and wants them to stop doing that and run normal sets.  I guess they can't do that if he won't put him on the floor.  That's one way to stop them, I guess.

Here's how individual defenders did vs Harden.  There are columns cut off to the right.  If you want to see the whole thing here's the link:  https://twitter.com/ASherrodblakely/status/1078630098289508354/photo/1




Rozier 2-6.  What's annoying is that his numbers this year are almost exactly what they are for his entire career.  This is who he is and I'm ok with that, but is he?  Can his ego (and they all have egos) accept that this is who he is?  Will teams still throw a ton of money at him this summer?  I find that hard to believe.  

Other than all those offensive rebounds I'm not all that upset about this loss.  It took 45 points from The Flop God to beat us.  D'Antoni only played 8 players.  Harden played 39.  If we had to do this in a 7-game series we'd wear them down to a nub, but what I don't want is the next team to attack the boards and kill us there again.  Once was more than enough.  Rebounding is key for us.  EVERYBODY has to get into the act.  Morris and Hayward had 6 each and they were our top rebounders.  Not good enough.

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071188






bob


.

We need a center, big mystery which Al will show up for playoffs?

Brad has not coached as well as in years past, hopefully will get it right, but no guarantee where Al and Hayward will be. He’s got to get Williams playing with Al and Theis, Hayward getting too many minutes. More big minutes needed for Williams, Al, Theis all at 4-5. Morris needs minutes, as do 2 J’s.

kdp59 wrote:https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/goberru01.html


I think Williams isn't in the rotation because he misses too many defensive rotations. Finds himself out of  where he should be too often still.

while he does make those athletic blocks, he makes too many other mistakes still to play regular, IMO.

The only way to get better is to play.  All of our bigs are missing assignments.  Many of his blocks and challenge shots is coming off of help defense.  When he goes after those shots no one goes after the rebound.  I think they need to play him now.  He will learn from his mistakes just like everyone else.

Our frontcourt defense does not look good.  That's the bottom line.  Our centers are average to below average rebounders.  Even if they do not get a lot of offensive rebounds they must at least control their defensive glass.  If you have a player that can rebound and protect the rim you have to find a way to play him.

Hawk. Totally agree. Gordon should not be there in place of a center.

bobheckler wrote:It's hard to win when they kill you on the boards 54-38.  It's also hard to win when they shoot 40% from 3 and more than 50% of their fgas are 3s.  What bothers me is how many uncontested 3s they got.  

Oh, and the 2nd chance points.  Capela's game was all about him crashing the boards off of Houston misses.  No box outs.  As has been stated by other posters, I do not understand why Williams didn't play.  Is he slow on some rotations?  Yes, and that's why Brad isn't just throwing him into the fire, his rookie year isn't like Tatum's where he's just taking to it like a duck to water, but nobody was stopping Capela.  18 second chance points for Houston croaked us.

James Harden is a basketball abomination.  He deserves Mike (No) D'Antoni.  Is he a great shooter, passer?  Yeah, but I hate everything about his game.  If anyone gets anywhere near him he does that head bob where he acts like he got hit with a 2x4 across the forehead, or he takes a 3 and falls down like he landed on the defender's foot.  If Marcus Smart is the King of Defensive Flops James Harden is the Emperor of Offensive Flops.  Houston took 35 ftas.  Harden took 17, most of them undeserved.  I don't blame him so much as I blame the refs and the league for never, ever learning their lesson.  He's playing you, fools.  For the millionth time, he's playing you.

Speaking of the refs how about Morris getting ejected for saying nothing?  There were 4:38 left in the game and we were down 115-101, so it would have taken a helluva rally to catch them, but still, wtf were the refs thinking?  Morris with a great game until the refs decided it was too great.

A great game by Jaylen Brown.  18 points on 7-12.  He was 1-4 from 3 but I'm going to live with that.  He played with great energy and competitiveness.  I just learned that Jaylen's hand has been hurt for the last month.  Maybe Brad should sit him down for a week or two and let it heal?

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
about 9 hours ago
Jaylen has been in noticeable pain on his right wrist for the last couple weeks, but it sounds like it’s becoming an even bigger issue. Between this and the foot sprain to open the year (and the fall and the illness) he has had a brutal run of health issues this season.


I like Theis but I'm starting to see him for what he is now.  He's a 4, playing 5.  That worked in Germany but it isn't here.  He's trying hard, he's rotating well, he just doesn't have the body.  Without Baynes we are really, really thin under the basket.  C'mon Brad, let Williams compete.  Yabby got 5 minutes, and I thought he did pretty well too, but he can't do what The Time Lord can.  I know that Brad is annoyed that everybody wants to throw lobs to Williams, and wants them to stop doing that and run normal sets.  I guess they can't do that if he won't put him on the floor.  That's one way to stop them, I guess.

Here's how individual defenders did vs Harden.  There are columns cut off to the right.  If you want to see the whole thing here's the link:  https://twitter.com/ASherrodblakely/status/1078630098289508354/photo/1




Rozier 2-6.  What's annoying is that his numbers this year are almost exactly what they are for his entire career.  This is who he is and I'm ok with that, but is he?  Can his ego (and they all have egos) accept that this is who he is?  Will teams still throw a ton of money at him this summer?  I find that hard to believe.  

Other than all those offensive rebounds I'm not all that upset about this loss.  It took 45 points from The Flop God to beat us.  D'Antoni only played 8 players.  Harden played 39.  If we had to do this in a 7-game series we'd wear them down to a nub, but what I don't want is the next team to attack the boards and kill us there again.  Once was more than enough.  Rebounding is key for us.  EVERYBODY has to get into the act.  Morris and Hayward had 6 each and they were our top rebounders.  Not good enough.

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071188






bob


.

Bob, Your entire assessment is spot on. I really hate to agree with Barkley but he too is spot on when he said during pregame and at halftime, “You have to make Harden work on the defensive end. He’ll more than likely wear down and be less effective (2018 playoffs)” We didn’t do that.

Bob...100% accutate again!

Saw a couple of questions on why no minutes for Williams.

He was listed as out with a leg injury. Minor. Should only miss the one game.

I guess Brad is not so stupid a coach after all.

worcester wrote:I guess Brad is not so stupid a coach after all.

good call worcester - often times "jumping to a conclusion " is a favorite pastime - especially in sports.

swish

NYCelt wrote:Saw a couple of questions on why no minutes for Williams.

He was listed as out with a leg injury. Minor. Should only miss the one game.

.Jared Weiss
@JaredWeissNBA
Robert Williams (left groin strain, screaming ‘MURPH!’ from the fourth dimension) upgraded to QUESTIONABLE for tomorrow in Memphis.


bob


.

That explains why Williams did not play. First I have heard about the groin injury. It however does not change the rebounding issue. I can't even say he would be playing if healthy.

Memphis is a poor rebounding team and that is a good thing given all the injuries at 5.