The Celtics went on an 11-0 run early in the fourth as part of an extended 40-21 sprint into the second half following what was a 53-51 rock fight with the Rockets late in the second quarter in Houston on Friday. Boston won, 109-86, with Al Horford and Jaylen Brown out less than 24 hours after the most thrilling game of its season went down to the final possession. Given the long travel, defensive aptitude of their opponent and some early struggles in the game, it marked an impressive taking care of business effort, especially ahead of the biggest games of the season on Sunday afternoon.
- Kristaps Porzingis returned from four games off with a left ankle sprain and looked like it early. Alperen Şengün set the table for Houston’s offense, shot over Porzingis on the second possession of the game and floated past him in the past players later before hitting Porzingis with back-to-back fouls. Luke Kornet relieved the big man with more rock solid minutes, including a cutting dunk that sent Şengün to the floor, before Porzingis returned for stronger defensive minutes the rest of the way in double-big. Porzingis scored 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting with five rebounds, two assists and two blocks — looking rusty at times. He struggled to take advantage of smaller defenders the Rockets threw at him, who successfully pushed him out far from the basket.
- The Celtics separated themselves almost immediately into second units that featured Jae’Sean Tate, Cam Whitmore, Steven Adams and Aaron Holiday with the Rockets under-manned. Payton Pritchard chalked up another 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting, sharing smirks and likely some trash talk with former coach and fellow Oregon native Ime Udoka. They go way back, and Udoka often expressed belief in Pritchard and found opportunities in 2022 for him to contribute, including Boston’s bench led Game 1 blowout win in the Finals at Golden State. The Celtics won Pritchard’s minutes by 21 points Friday. Kornet added 10 rebounds, six offensive, and four assists in similarly impactful playing time, along with a block and a steal. He’s averaging 9.3 points and 14.0 rebounds per 36 minutes over his last 10 appearances.
- This was an impressive spot for the Celtics to come through in despite some absences on the Rockets’ side taking some air out of the win. Stringing together multiple games of defensive intensity against top opponents on the road, doing it across a long distance back-to-back and continuing to showcase play closer to last year’s dominance, particularly with Jrue Holiday back, all bodes well for the second half of one of the more difficult road trips you’ll see. The shooting’s coming back, as is the offensive rebounding intensity and low turnover totals that made last season’s offense an all-timer. Holiday reached 11 assists on Friday before recording his first turnover of the road trip. He posted-up, shot the three and once again dominated defensively. Boston has won three straight since his return from a shoulder ailment.
- Sam Hauser started and attempted only one shot in 19 minutes after a string of 12-of-24 three point shooting over his previous three games. He didn’t open the second half, Kornet playing alongside Porzingis in what likely amounted to a matchup decision. Hauser returned for the final four minutes of the third, taking his lone attempt and grabbing three rebounds. He recorded a steal to begin the fourth before the normal rotation players took a seat for the rest of the night five minutes into the frame. It’s become an unfortunate reality through his back injury struggles in the first half of the season to keep an eye on the variance in Hauser’s performances.
- More and more, Tatum’s driving this team and the more involved he becomes, the better the results look for the Celtics. The stats don’t jump out on Friday, 7-of-19 shooting, 4-of-10 from three, 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and a steal, but his threes before half time held Houston at arm’s length when the game was still competitive. His ability to shake physical defense from Dillon Brooks and the Rockets’ willingness to play screens physically, even if they got called for fouls, made for a difficult matchup that overcame in stride. The on-off numbers don’t flash as much as they did in the past, Boston only 3.7 points per 100 possessions better with Tatum on compared to off, but that’s more about the Celtics’ second unit holding their own over stretches like the start of the fourth on Friday. Tatum’s value when he’s in the game is clearer across all facets of the game across various lineups, especially with Jaylen Brown (shoulder) out for the last two games. His per game plus-minus (+9.3) surpassed Nikola Jokić’s (+9.2) on Friday and he’ll get head-to-head matchups with Jokić (Tuesday) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander this week to make his MVP case that feels more real than ever before this season.
- Tari Eason, Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr.’s absence made it hard to take too much from the Houston side of this matchup. Though as great as they’ve been to begin this season, consistently atop the standings with Oklahoma City and Memphis through nearly the halfway point of the season in the loaded west, they don’t feel like real contenders yet. They’ve maintained they’re seeing what they have this year and don’t have plans to accelerate the process, but with Jimmy Butler available and his stock at rock bottom, how could they not at least discuss the idea of bringing him on to power a second half playoff push. It’s risky, and would probably involve trading beloved locker room leader Fred VanVleet. It’s not clear when they’ll get such an opportunity to infuse a star player of that caliber. The Butler saga could end soon.
- In case you missed it, I still can’t get over Boston’s stellar game plan guarding Anthony Edwards yesterday.
