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Celtics can’t stop James Harden’s 42 points, Rockets blast off with 115-104 win in Boston

James Harden led all scorers with 42 points as the Houston Rockets dominated from three-point range in a 115-104 road win over the Boston Celtics.

Mar 3, 2019; Boston, MA: Houston Rockets guard James Harden drives uncontested to the basket against the Boston Celtics during the first quarter at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)

Mar 3, 2019; Boston, MA: Houston Rockets guard James Harden drives uncontested to the basket against the Boston Celtics during the first quarter at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)

Winslow Townson-USA TODAY
Mar 3, 2019; Boston, MA: Houston Rockets guard James Harden drives uncontested to the basket against the Boston Celtics during the first quarter at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)Winslow Townson-USA TODAY

Mar 3, 2019; Boston, MA: Houston Rockets guard James Harden drives uncontested to the basket against the Boston Celtics during the first quarter at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)

From the NBA Newswire at 985TheSportsHub.com

The Houston Rockets blasted off early against the Celtics on Sunday and never looked back, running Boston off the TD Garden floor in a 115-104 win that wasn't even as close as the final score indicated.

Houston went up by as much as 28 in the third quarter, as NBA scoring leader James Harden led the way with 42 points and added 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a blocked shot. Eric Gordon caught fire with 32 points on 61.1 percent shooting from the field, including 8-for-12 from three-point range. The Celtics outscored the Rockets 26-15 in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late.

Kyrie Irving again led the Celtics in scoring with 24 points on the afternoon. Al Horford added 19 points on a near-perfect 7-for-8 (87.5 percent) from the field, while Marcus Smart scored 18. However, Jayson Tatum scored just 12 points on 5-for-15 shooting, while Marcus Morris came up empty in the points column as he went 0-for-3 from the field and 0-for-2 at the free-throw line.

The Rockets dominated from beyond the arc, draining 21 of their 51 three-point attempts (41.1 percent). The Celtics, meanwhile, were a mere 8-for-28 (28.6 percent) from deep.

Up Next: The Celtics get Monday off then head out west to California, where they'll take on the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday and the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.

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Matt, a North Andover, Massachusetts native, has been with The Sports Hub since 2010. Growing up the son of Boston University All-American and Melrose High School hall-of-fame hockey player Steve Dolloff, sports was always a part of his life. After attending Northeastern University, Matt focused his love of sports on writing, extensively writing about all four major Boston teams. He also is a co-host of the Sports Hub Underground podcast and is a regular on-air contributor on the Sports Hub. Matt writes about all New England sports from Patriots football to Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins.