Celtics fall to Houston in overtime, 111-110

For all of their recent success, the Celtics still do not have an answer for the Houston Rockets and their deadly pair — James Harden and Russell Westbrook.

The Celtics fell for the second time this season to the Rockets with Saturday night’s 111-110 overtime loss. Westbrook towered over all with a 41-point, 16-for-24 performance.

Jayson Tatum (32 points, 9-for-27) and Jaylen Brown (22 points, 9-for-23) had to work a little too hard for their points, and those offensive struggles cost the Celtics down the stretch despite a 26-point, five-trey performance by Marcus Smart.

Brown’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the top of the arc sent the game into overtime in a 104-104 tie after Tatum purposely missed his last free throw, which was rebounded by Smart, who hurried the ball out to Brown.

The lead changed hands on the first five possessions, with the Celtics finally gaining traction when, after a long 2:09 scoreless stretch following a Daniel Theis dunk for a 110-109 lead, the Celtics center won the scramble for a loose ball and called timeout with 47.1 seconds left.

Gordon Hayward missed from the corner and though Smart got the rebound, he lost the ball. Harden, fouled on the other end, hit twice for a 111-110 Houston lead with 24.3 seconds left.

Brown missed, and though Theis grabbed the rebound, he was unable to get the shot off before the buzzer.

Smart’s drive with 3:22 left cut the Rockets’ lead to 96-95, but Robert Covington hit a 3-pointer with 2:36 left for a 99-95 lead. The next time down, following a Tatum miss and turnover, Westbrook tip-dunked a P.J. Tucker miss. Gordon Hayward missed, but with 20.4 seconds left Smart cut the Houston lead to 101-98 with a fast break drive.

Westbrook, sent to the line, only managed to hit the second of two free throws, leaving the Celtics down by four points with 19.3 seconds left at 102-98.

Smart’s leaning 3-pointer with 9.8 seconds left cut the margin to a point, and this time Westbrook, fouled by Daniel Theis, hit twice for a three-point lead.

Tatum was intentionally fouled with 5.1 seconds left, missed his first and intentionally missed the second. Smart grabbed the rebound and kicked the ball out to Brown for the game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2Tc6ZZJ