HOUSTON — The shorthanded Celtics improved to 2-0 on their road trip to begin 2025 with a runaway 109-84 victory over the Houston Rockets Friday night despite missing two rotation players.
Kristaps Porzingis was uneven out of the gate in his return from an ankle injury, Boston came out hot as a team, erupting for 37 first quarter points behind some hot shooting from Jrue Holiday and Payton Pritchard in the opening frame.
The offense fell off from there but the visitors were able to maintain the lead thanks to some stout defense. Joe Mazzulla opted to play with double bigs for much of the game, even going with Luke Kornet over Sam Hauser to start the second half to help shore up the team’s defense. After an ugly third quarter, the Celtics put the game away with a 11-0 run to start the fourth quarter with Jayson Tatum on the bench.
The victory gives Boston their third straight win overall, improving to 26-9 on the year and 13-3 on the road.
Derrick White (23 points) led the way for the visitors as five different players scored in double figures despite the absences of Jaylen Brown (shoulder) and Al Horford (rest). Jalen Green had a team-high 27 points for the hosts who played without three key defenders in Jabari Smith Jr. (hand), Amen Thompson (suspension) and Tari Eason (injury management).
The Celtics get a day off before trying to improve to 3-0 on their road trip in a Sunday afternoon showdown with the Thunder.
Here are four Celtics takeaways from Friday’s game:
Kristaps Porzingis starts slow but finishes well in return: The big man was back in Boston’s lineup after a four-game absence from a sprained ankle. It was a rough start for the center facing up against an elite offensive talent in Sengun who drew two quick fouls and torched him on multiple possessions in the post out of the gate. Porzingis bounced back better in the second quarter though when Joe Mazzulla opted to play a big alongside him for the entire frame. Mazzulla rode this strategy in the second half as well, starting Kornet over Sam Hauser to begin the third quarter. Porzingis did not look ready for the Rockets’ physicality at times but maneuvered around well on his ankle. Ultimately, a step in the right direction but Porzingis has some work to do to find his offensive rhythm particularly against teams that are trying to be very physical with him. He finished with 11 points in 28 minutes.
Jrue Holiday provides valuable early spark: The veteran guard set the tone for Boston immediately out of the gate, erupting for 12 first quarter points in just eight minutes. He was aggressive looking for his shot from the perimeter and taking advantage of smaller Rockets guards down low. Mazzulla wisely opted to keep his minutes down on the night coming off a heavy minutes load in the back-to-back but it was evident Holiday knew he had to be impactful offensively against a stout Rockets defense.
Celtics play virtual mistake-free offense in the first half: On the heels of the lowest turnover performance of the season Thursday night, the Celtics put together an incredibly disciplined showing in the first half. The team turned the ball over just once against a top-3 Rockets defense, failing to be impacted by Houston’s physical defense. Tatum and Pritchard were particularly strong with the ball on their drives, working through contact well and the team as a whole had a 11-to-1 assist-to-turnover action. The miscues piled up in the third quarter as the Celtics turned the ball over eight times in a 17-point third quarter but the defense.
Celtics shut down Rockets on offensive glass in second half: The Celtics shot better than the Rockets all night long but the hosts managed to stay in the game on the strength of their offensive rebounding. They are the best team in the NBA on that front and it showed against Boston’s undermanned frontcourt as they piled up 14 second chance points in the first half alone off seven offensive rebounds. Sengun and Steven Adams did most of the damage on this front with Porzingis struggling win the glass. However, the Celtics double big lineups neutralized this attack in the second half as Sengun failed to score after halftime and Houston had just two second chance points.
