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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