Key Moment
The Houston Rockets remained level with the Boston Celtics throughout most of the first half of Monday night’s matchup at TD Garden. However, once the third quarter began, the C’s lifted off the ground.
After emerging from the break with a 52-47 lead, Boston promptly went off on a 24-3 run, leaving the Rockets stuck to their launchpad.
Jaylen Brown, in his first game back from a hamstring strain, scored exactly half of Boston’s points during that stretch, including nine straight over a 65-second span which put the Celtics ahead, 72-50.
Meanwhile, Houston made just one field goal during the first seven-and-a-half minutes of the third – a dunk by Christian Wood.
From there, Boston kept soaring, as it went ahead by as many as 29 points in the fourth quarter, before finishing with a 108-90 win.
Key Player
What a night for Jayson Tatum.
He got his partner in crime – Jaylen Brown – back, and he went off for 30 points again.
Tatum was ultra-aggressive, shooting 9-of-13 from inside the 3-point arc and a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line (all in the first half).
The All-Star wing also grabbed six rebounds, dished out three assists, snagged one steal, and committed only one turnover in 34 minutes of action.
It marked the fourth game in a row in which Tatum reached the 30-point mark – the second-longest such streak of his career (five straight games of 30-plus points from Feb. 23, 2020 to March 4, 2020).
Tatum also came just five points shy of the point total produced by Houston's entire starting five.
Box Score Nuggets
- Boston's starters nearly doubled up Houston's starters in the scoring department, 69-35.
- Jayson Tatum (30 points) nearly outscored Houston's starters by himself.
- Houston's bench outscored its starters by 20 points.
- Jaylen Brown scored 19 points in less than 23 minutes of action.
- Houston's top two scorers came off the bench (Armoni Brooks – 17 points, Kenyon Martin Jr. – 10 points).
- Rob Williams corralled a game-high 15 rebounds, while attempting and making only one field.
- Dennis Schroder logged 18 points off the bench.
- The Celtics shot 18-of-19 from the free-throw line.
- Only three Celtics players made a free-throw.
- Both teams turned the ball over 15 times.
- Both teams blocked three shots.
- Boston had a 14-8 advantage in second-chance points.
Quote of the Night
Al Horford on Jaylen Brown's return to the lineup