Defensive woes plague Rockets in loss to Celtics

Photo courtesy of Winslow Townson/Associated Press

The Rockets continue to find creative and fun news ways to lose basketball games.

Houston found themselves thoroughly outclassed by a better basketball team on Friday night, conceding to the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden by a score of 118-102.

While offense has proven to be a lingering issue for the team in games past, it was poor defense that did them in in Beantown. Boston scored 30+ points in three of the game's four quarters, and in the one quarter that they were limited in, Houstons only managed to score 19 points of their own.

Houston was eaten alive defensively. The usual suspects for Boston got their fair share of points (Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown finished with 26 and 22 points, respectively), but what really did the Rockets in was Boston's very own Time Lord.

Robert Williams III, now in a starting role with former Celtic Daniel Theis traded to Chicago, had probably the best night of his career against the Rockets. In 26 minutes, Williams went a perfect 9-9 from the floor, scoring 20 points, grabbing nine rebounds, dishing out eight assists, blocking two shots, and turning the ball over zero times.

It wasn't just Williams either. Recently acquired Evan Fournier, formerly of the Orlando Magic, feasted on the Rockets from deep, dropping 23 points on 7-11 shooting from three.

All in all, Boston shot over 50% from the field and over 40% from three, thoroughly outclassing the Rockets. They also grabbed ten more team rebounds compared to Houston.

The Rockets simply couldn't keep up, especially with their own subpar offensive performance. No Rocket notched more than 20 points on the night. Christian Wood performed well (19p/10r), but it wasn't nearly enough to keep the Rockets in the game.

Kevin Porter Jr. struggled to score, despite dishing out eight assists of his own in the contest. He managed only 12 points on eleven shots. He went 0-5 from deep.

"We just got kind of lulled into playing a slow, walk-up game," Coach Silas explained in the postgame press session.

Houston, now 13-35, is only one and a half games above the worst record in the league. They'll take those fantastic lottery odds back home to Houston on Sunday in their next contest against the New Orleans Pelicans. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 PM CT.