Houston Rockets Squeak By Boston Celtics 93-87

It may have not been the prettiest win of sorts but your Houston Rockets are winners of four straight games!

This team must continue to press on without the presence of Dwight Howard and I honestly feel that I could be done.

It’s apparent that the guys that would normally be the role players have stepped up and taken the lead just like a starter would.

Donatas Motiejunas, Josh Smith, Corey Brewer — you know who you are!

If the intensity is kept up, these Rockets will continue to cruise their way toward the finish line of the regular season with or without D12.

One would’ve expected the Rockets to just punish the Boston Celtics for being such a bad team but that certainly wasn’t the case.

Their young bunch of guys were quite scrappy and made our Rockets earn that win.

There are no guarantees in the NBA and that’s certainly why you have to play the games!

Let’s go!

At the start of the 1st quarter, the Rockets got going early jumping out to a 7-2 lead with 10:24 left which consisted of a D-Mo layup/three-pointer and a Joey Dorsey dunk.

Then Brandon Bass, Jared Sullinger and Jae Crowder all countered the Rockets with an assortment of a layup, a turnaround fadeaway and a three-pointer to cut the Rockets lead to two. Rockets 11, Celtics 9

Jan 30, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics forward

Jae Crowder

(left) strips the ball from Houston Rockets guard

James Harden

(13) during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

Then the Rockets took control of the quarter and led by as much as 11 points with 52 seconds left after a glorious four-point play that conducted by James Harden!

Harden had made a three-pointer but was fouled by Marcus Smart in the process giving the Beard the opportunity to connect on the free throw!

At the end of the 1st, the Rockets were on top 29-21.

That quarter was all D-Mo as he already had nine points and three rebounds to his credit.

He was literally everywhere.

At the start of the 2nd quarter, he continued his surge by laying in two putting the Rockets up by 10. Rockets 33, Celtics 23

The Rockets then started to head toward total domination by leading by as much as 18 points with 4:44 left after a Trevor Ariza three-pointer. Rockets 53, Celtics 35

This rang true all the way until the end of the half with the Rockets leading 60-42.

D-Mo watch: 16 points, five rebounds

At the start of the 2nd half, then the bottom fell out of the Rockets’ readiness.

The team would only manage to score nine points compared to the Celtics 22 allowing them to close within five at the end of the 3rd. Rockets 69, Celtics 64

What happened? It was if the Rockets suddenly forgot to defend and went absolutely ice-cold from the field.

Just call the whole quarter a 22-9 run by the Celtics!

Dorsey, Patrick Beverley, Harden, Terrence Jones and J-Smoove were the only guys to contribute to those nine points.

Awful!

Jan 30, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics forward

Jared Sullinger

(7) drives to the hoop against Houston Rockets forward

Joey Dorsey

(8) during the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

The Rockets finally got it together after intermission between quarters starting a 11-6 run with a Beverley three-pointer culminating with a Brew layup with 8:17 left putting Rockets back up by 10 points. Rockets 80, Celtics 70

But Marcus Thornton got extremely hot and it was him that kept the Celtics within striking distance with his eight points within the quarter.

The Celtics were able to close within three points on three separate occasions particularly after a Thornton finger roll with 27 seconds left to go. Rockets 90, Celtics 87

But Brew saved the day after sinking two big free throws down the stretch after being fouled by Avery Bradley in the act of shooting with 21 seconds left. Rockets 92, Celtics 87

After the Celtics got the ball back, Bradley missed a three-point attempt with 10 seconds left and fouled Harden who got the rebound off that attempt.

Harden missed the first attempt and made the second keeping the Rockets on top for good. Final Score: Rockets 93, Celtics 87

D-Mo was the star of this game as continued to demonstrate why he is integral piece of the starting lineup!

He had 26 points, 12 rebounds off 11-for-16 shooting from the field. He was also 3-for-5 from behind-the-arc.

J-Smoove had another impressive game off the bench, throwing in 15 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and one block in 30 minutes of action!

However, it was an off night for the Beard — he scored only 14 points along with seven assists and six rebounds. He was 4-for-21 from the field and it was one of the worst games I’ve ever seen him play.

Jan 30, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard

Marcus Thornton

(left) strips the ball from Houston Rockets forward

Josh Smith

(right) during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

D-Mo’s stat line looks similar to what the Beard normally puts up but you know what?

That’s there’s four other team members to help, he can’t carry the load every night and it’s okay for him to have a bad game from time-to-time.