Preview: Boston Celtics vs Houston Rockets

The Boston Celtics will be squaring off with a potential playoff team on Friday night as the Houston Rockets come to town

The Boston Celtics have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA over the past month, and currently own one of the longest home winning streaks. Their 14 game home winning streak and 39-26 record is on the line as the Houston Rockets are in town on Friday night. Houston brings in a 32-32 record, and currently holds the eighth seed in the West.

Kelly Olynyk is expected to still sit out for the Celtics on Friday night, while Terrence Jones is questionable after he was an odd scratch from their last game against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Boston, winning six of their last seven, have been on a roll lately, however, the Rockets have gone 3-1 over their last four games and may have finally started to turn their season around.

Houston has been one of the most disappointing teams in the NBA this season, and decided to part ways with Ty Lawson, who they acquired this past off-season. James Harden and Dwight Howard are also supposedly butting heads, and their early season coaching change has not sparked this team and turned them around.

Houston has talent on their team, but they also have a lot of egos and not great team chemistry. Right now they’re a mess and this seems like a lost season for a team that reached the Western Conference Finals last season. With that being said, they beat the Toronto Raptors this past week and aren’t a team that you can win against without at least a little fight.

The X-Factor in this game for Boston is Jared Sullinger. After dealing with a skin infection, Sullinger missed all three practices this week but still played in their game against the Memphis Grizzlies. He only saw 21 minutes, most likely due to the blowout and skin infection, but recorded 12 points, five rebounds, and three steals. Sullinger had a stellar February, and has followed it up with three double-digit rebound games, including two double-doubles, in March.

Mar 5, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Boston Celtics center Jared Sullinger (7) works against Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) during the first quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /

He will have his hands full with Dwight Howard down low though. A lot of people like to say that Howard is past his prime, but he is still one of the most dominating centers in the game. This season, Howard has still contributed 15 points per game, and leads the team with 12.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. It’s fair to say that the decline has started for the once most dominating big man in the league, but it’s unfair to say that he still isn’t capable of having a big night.

The X-factor for the Houston Rockets is Patrick Beverley. He has been the team’s starter over the past two seasons but was supposedly going to take a backup role to Ty Lawson before that experiment went down the drain. Beverley is now back as the starting point guard of the team and continues to bring the same defensive intensity as before. Beverley won’t light up the scoreboard, and half the time he doesn’t even bring the ball up; the Rockets like their superstar James Harden to do most of the ball handling. As a result, he only averages 9.6 points and 2.8 assists per game. He is also coming off a 16-point effort in their win over the 76ers though.

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It will once again be his defensive intensity on display on Friday night. Isaiah Thomas has been one of the most dominating point guards over the past couple of weeks, owning a ridiculous 145 offensive rating in March. He has scored at least 30 points twice in March and is currently playing out of his mind. Beverley is known as one of the scrappiest, and best defensive guards in the league, and he’ll be all over Thomas on Friday night. If the Rockets want a chance to pull the upset, they’ll need to slow down Thomas.

The Celtics have been unstoppable at home as of late, and it seems like that should continue. Although, Houston is one of those teams that can get hot at any time and show why they were such a dominating force last season. If I was a betting man, I would take Boston, but it’s going to be a close one for sure.

Next: Examining Isaiah Thomas' Recent Success

Boston can’t overlook the star power that Houston holds, and needs to get off to a quicker start than they did against the Memphis Grizzlies.

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