Trying to avoid 3rd Celtics sweep
The Rockets’ namebrand homestand will go from the six-time champion Bulls to the 17-time champion Celtics with the 17-time champion Lakers on deck. While the Bulls and Lakers are in play-in territory, the Celtics will bring the NBA’s second-best record to Toyota Center on Monday, trailing the Bucks by just a game and a half.
The Rockets have not topped a team with a better than .500 record at home since beating the Suns Dec. 13. But they have played well in consecutive games against Eastern Conference teams in the play-in race, taking the Pacers to overtime on Thursday and the Bulls to the closing minutes on Saturday.
They gave the Celtics a good game for a half in Boston before the Celtics ran away for a 24-point win. The Celtics have won the past five meetings and are looking for a third-consecutive season sweep of the Rockets. Since a three-game losing streak, they topped the Trail Blazers and then won in Atlanta on Saturday in the first game of a six-game road trip.
The Celtics are the only team in the top five in offensive and defensive rating, ranking fourth in both and first in net rating. The Rockets are 28th in offensive rating, 29th in defensive rating and 29th in net rating, topping only the San Antonio Spurs.
1-2 punch, part 2
After going against the Bulls’ Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan on Saturday, giving up 63 to the Bulls’ top two scorers, the Rockets face the similar challenge of defending Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Brown and Tatum, who average 56.7 points per game, had 39 and 38 points, respectively in the first meeting.
Tatum is among the presumed MVP candidates, one of four players in the league averaging at least 30 points and eight rebounds. He would become the first Celtics player with those averages in a single season, edging Larry Bird’s 29.9 points and 9.3 rebounds in 1987-88.
More Alpi-ness
Rockets center Alperen Sengun was on a good roll when he arrived in Boston in December. Also playing the Celtics in the game after playing the Bulls, he had made 10 of 12 shots against the Bulls but got few touches in Boston, missing the only three shots he took.
The Celtics had defended Sengun with smaller players, most often last season’s defensive player of the year Marcus Smart, with Tatum and Brown also getting turns. That made it difficult for Sengun to get free in the low post, and doubled quickly when he did get the ball inside. Sengun was scoreless, the only game this season in which he has failed to score. After getting two assists in the first four minutes, he did not get any in the rest of the game.
The defensive scheme is not unusual for the Celtics and was not unexpected. But in the second half of a back-toback, with no practice or shootaround to prepare, the Rockets were slow to adjust. They should be better prepared to get Sengun the ball in other ways.
The Rockets did, however, take advantage of switches in that game. Kevin Porter Jr. had 12 of his 22 points in the second quarter when he scored or set up 21 of the Rockets’ 28 points. He finished with nine assists and no turnovers. Jalen Green had 18 of his 28 points in the third quarter. But the Rockets will want to add their thirdleading scorer to the mix.
More Jabari Smith Jr.
Rockets rookie Jabari Smith Jr. followed his 30-point, 12-rebound game in Indianapolis with 20 points and 10 rebounds on Saturday against the Bulls, the first time he has had consecutive double-doubles.
In the past two games, Smith, 19, has had 50 points, 22 rebounds, three steals, three blocked shots, five assists and five 3s, joining the only players 20 years or younger to have those numbers in a two-game span.
After making 1 of 16 3s in a four-game span, Smith has made 10 of 21 in the five games since.
In the first meeting with the Celtics, however, Smith made just 2 of 10 shots, scoring six points in 29 minutes.
More 3s?
The Rockets went from attempting 17 3s in Indiana (making just six) to knocking down 16 (on 34 attempts) against the Bulls. The shooting did not last. The Rockets made just 1 of 11 3s in the fourth quarter. But they did successfully add range shooting to their offense, a key to building a 13-point lead.
That will be more difficult against the Celtics. The Celtics allow the seventh-fewest 3-pointers per game, just .7 more per game than the Mavericks, who allow the fewest in the league. Their switching defense keeps defenders attached to shooters, allowing relatively few open looks (12.5 per game) from the 3-point line.
The Rockets made 14 of 45 3-pointers in the first meeting, but have averaged just 9.8 3-pointers per game in the 33 games since, tied for the fewest in the league.
Shorthanded
Center Robert Williams III, then coming off an injury, played off the Celtics bench and gave the Rockets fits in the first meeting. In his 21 minutes, he made his four shots, scoring 11 points with 15 rebounds. Grant Williams added eight points.
There is a chance neither will play. Robert Williams is out with a strained left hamstring. Grant Williams, struggling with his shot while playing through a strained right elbow, has moved into a more limited role and did not play in Atlanta on Saturday.
Blake Griffin moved up as the Celtics’ first frontcourt player off the bench with Tatum and Brown starting at the forward with Al Horford at center. But Robert Williams had a huge part in the Celtics’ secondhalf blowout of the Rockets in December.