A lot of NBA teams might pack it in when trailing by 24 points at halftime on the second night of a back-to-back.
But the Boston Celtics just turn up the pressure. In the video above, Michaela Vernava has the details on everything you missed while you were sleeping, presented by Bedgear.
Boston was thoroughly outclassed during the first half against the Houston Rockets on Thursday, as James Harden, Eric Gordon and Co. got whatever they wanted on the offensive end, taking a 62-38 lead into the break.
On the other side of the break, Boston elected to do two things: play small and hound the Rockets’ guards for 94 feet.
Kyrie Irving, Marcus Smart, Shane Larkin and Terry Rozier harrassed Harden and Gordon during the entire second half, forcing the high-powered backcourt to spend a ton of energy bringing the ball up court to initiate the offense.
With Harden and Gordon tiring, the Celtics made their run, outscoring the Rockets 31-16 in the third quarter and 30-20 in the final frame to grab a thrilling 99-98 comeback win.
Al Horford, who’s game-winning hook shot cemented the victory, credits the C’s fullcourt defense on Harden for the impressive win.
“They were picking him (Harden) up fullcourt,” Horford said after the game, via Mike Petraglia of CLNS Media. “You know, James is such a good player that when he gets to just come down and play his game, you can’t stop him. The fact that our guys took the challenge and picked him up 94 feet, and you don’t think — it wears on you, possession by possession just doing the same thing. And I think that, obviously, them not having Chris Paul, it just wore him down. You just have to keep having that load, and we were able to wear them down.”
Horford certainly has a point.
The Rockets shot 9-for-36 in the second half for 25 percent. Harden and Gordon, who combined for 34 points in the first half, went 5-for-27 with 24 points and five turnovers in the half while being pestered all around the court.
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens, while pleased with the win, was more happy to see his team fight when they could have easily packed it in.
“The result doesn’t matter,” Stevens said, via ESPN’s Chris Forsberg. “It’s the resiliency that they showed. They could have easily folded.”
Boston has played .500 ball since its 16-game winning streak ended, but it showed Thursday that it still belongs in the conversation with the NBA’s best, especially when the defense clamps down.
Here are more notes from Celtics-Rockets:
— The Rockets led for 99.1 percent of the game and led by double digits for over half of it. Boston led for just three seconds, but those three seconds were all that mattered.
— It was the Celtics’ eighth comeback from 12 or more points this season.
— The Rockets had been 179-0 in the past 20 seasons in games in which they led by 25-plus points. The Celtics last overcame a 25-point deficit on April 13, 2016 against the Miami Heat.
