Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets held on late to defeat the Boston Celtics Monday night in a 111-109 home victory, which illustrated their growth in late-game execution.

The Houston Rockets roster could look far different next year. Who besides Jalen Green will survive the rebuild?

[Jalen Green](https://www.chron.com/sports/rockets/article/jalen-green-houston-rockets-highlights-17652383.php) leading what could be the core of Houston's next playoff team at some point in the next decade. Even without the addition of [Victor Wembanyama](https://www.chron.com/sports/rockets/article/victor-wembanyama-houston-rockets-17509773.php) this summer, this very well be a team on the rise this time next year. But a difficult 2022-23 campaign shouldn't completely deter faith in the franchise.

Instead, Mazzulla said the reasons Boston lost were fouling, rebounding, turnovers and second-chance points. It's hard to find much fault with that assessment.

But relative to the rest of the NBA, the Celtics are the fourth-best defense in the league. Mazzulla has to figure this out over the last few weeks of the season. It’s clear that Grant Williams is out of the mix at the moment. Related to the above: Boston was outscored 54-50 on points in the paint. Given the Celtics got to the rim whenever they wanted, they should have won that inside battle. And with playing only one big, that’s putting a ton of pressure on those non-Rob Williams bigs to clean up too much in the paint. The vast majority of the game, it was Boston being a step slow or reaching and grabbing as the Rockets guards went by them. It’s Boston putting the ball on a platter because of an “it’s just Houston” approach to the game. Jalen Green is one of the smallest players on the floor. In total, upon a second watch of the game, the Celtics had over 30 one- or zero-pass possessions. Let’s get to the rebounding, or lack thereof on the defense end. It’s actually right in range of the Celtics season-average for turnovers.

'They just wanted it more,' said Brown of the loss to one of the NBA's worst ball clubs.

Boston had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but Jayson Tatum missed a layup.

The Rockets led by seven at halftime and used a 7-0 run to make it 71-58 with about 8 1/2 minutes left in the third. The Celtics made four free throws before getting a three-point play from Brogdon to get within two with less than two minutes remaining. But the Rockets got consecutive 3s from Usman Garuba to start a 9-2 run that extended their advantage to 98-89 with about seven minutes to go. Rockets: Porter hobbled off the court in the fourth quarter but returned a couple minutes later. Silas said the injury wasn't serious and he expects Sengun to return for the next game. Celtics: Robert Williams was out for a fifth straight game with a strained left hamstring. ... Payton Pritchard was inactive for a third consecutive game with left heel pain. Boston, which is second in the Eastern Conference, trailed by 11 with about 4 1/2 minutes to go before using a late run to get within striking distance. The Celtics had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but Jayson Tatum missed a layup. "I thought it was a good, well-executed play," Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. And as much as we can watch film and as much as we can talk about it ... "So I think we did that and it paid off."

The Boston Celtics were upset by the Houston Rockets 111-109 despite a comeback attempt in the final seconds. Jaylen Brown scored 43 in the loss.

But Brown had four consecutive points that cut the Rockets lead down to five. By the 4:45 mark Tatum had 8 points from attacking the rim, as Tatum would go on to score 13 in the third quarter. The Rockets had 9 fast-break points while the C’s had three. The Celtics out-rebounded offensively leading to 13 second-chance points for the Rockets while the Celtics only had six. Jayson Tatum only had nine points on 3/12 shooting in the first half, missed a dunk and committed three turnovers. [Houston Rockets](https://www.nba.com/rockets/schedule) previously lost their last three games against the Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers, and Chicago Bulls and are in the middle of a six-game homestand.