BOSTON — Fresh off a four-game road trip on which they went 3-1, the Boston Celtics returned to TD Garden on Monday night for a game against the Houston Rockets. The two teams met earlier in the month, and Boston walked away with a win. It was more of the same on Monday night on the hardwood.
An otherworldly game from Dillon Brooks had the Rockets in pole position for most of the first three quarters (and gave them some life late in the fourth), but the Celtics wouldn’t go away. They continued to apply defensive pressure where it was needed, and their offense ramped up in the third quarter. They had control early in the fourth, but Houston wouldn't go down without a fight.
The late five minutes brought clutch minutes to TD Garden. Both sides battled back and forth, trading tough basket for tough basket. Alperen Sengun got a wide-open dunk off of a Celtics defensive miscommunication, leaving the Celtics down 112-110 with 10.3 remaining in the fourth. But Jayson Tatum answered right back, powering through Amen Thompson for a bucket, tying the game 112-112.
Thompson got the win, though, scoring in the lane and earning the Rockets a 114-112 victory.
Here are three studs and three duds from the game.
Stud - Kristaps Porzingis
There is no hiding it anymore—Kristaps Porzingis is the NBA’s ultimate X-Factor. When he is on the floor for the Celtics, everything changes.
Even against a defense as great (and physical) as the Rockets’, Porzingis was able to take Boston’s offense to another level. Usually, he does so by attacking mismatches in the post, and while he did that a bit on Monday night, his floor-spacing was his most useful asset.
Porzingis was an absolute laser beam from beyond the three-point arc, making the Rockets pay for sinking too deep into the paint. (Unfortunately, some foul trouble hindered him throughout the night.)
He even shared a fired-up moment with the TD Garden crowd after bumping into Brooks and receiving a technical foul.
The Latvian big man has found an incredible group over the past few weeks.
Dud - Jayson Tatum’s first half
Monday night marked one of the weirdest first halves of Jayson Tatum’s career. He facilitated well, as he so often does, but the shots just weren’t falling.
Tatum took a few questionable threes, and even when his shots came within the flow of the offense, they were way off.
There will be very few instances where Tatum is completely useless, and the first half on Monday night certainly wasn’t one of those times, but the superstar’s scoring rhythm has completely escaped him recently.
His first shot of the second half bounced off the front rim and in, but even then, it took a bounce for the ball to go down.
BONUS STUD: To Tatum’s credit, he turned things up in the second half. Some of his shots started to fall and, in the third quarter especially, he was an incredible playmaker for the Celtics. He also had a monster clutch bucket with 5.3 seconds left in the game to tie it up.
Stud - First three quarters Jaylen Brown
Where Tatum failed on Monday night, Jaylen Brown did not. Once again, a hot start fueled a solid scoring night for Brown, as he was one of Boston’s top offensive options.
Ever since Brown began to weed out unnecessary threes and began getting to his spots, his offense has completely changed. Everything looks much easier for Brown, and the Celtics are reaping the rewards.
He got his buckets on Monday through a steady diet of mid-range looks and drives to the paint—his two preferred scoring methods—and even mixed in some threes.
Following a relatively up-and-down stretch, Brown has turned up the heat in a big way.
(That said, Brown didn't have the best close to the game. He was great for a long while, but some of his late-game decisions were questionable.)
Dud - Guarding threes
Like Caleb Martin, Lu Dort, and so many before them, Brooks absolutely destroyed the Celtics from beyond the three-point arc on Monday night.
As Boston decided to give him a bit of space and put defensive pressure in other areas, Brooks didn’t hesitate. He let it fly from three over and over again, pouring in a ton of triples.
Heading into the game, Brooks’ season-high for threes was six. He made seven by the time the game was mid-way through the third quarter.
The Celtics did an okay job of getting out to shooters after helping off of them, but the results didn’t reflect those efforts.
Stud - Luke Kornet
Al Horford was a late scratch in this game. He was listed as available and placed in the starting lineup, but he didn’t end up playing at all. Luke Kornet got the start in his place, and he was awesome.
Kornet does an amazing job of filling space on the floor, especially on the offensive end. He sneakily slips into open spots on the floor, giving his teammates easy passes that lead to open dunks.
The big man scored in bunches, grabbed a ton of rebounds, and played solid defense.
He turned the ball over a few times, but with Porzingis in foul trouble, Kornet stepped up in a big way on Monday night.
Dud - Xavier Tillman
For the first time in a long time, Xavier Tillman got a real crack at rotational minutes. He checked in during the first quarter as Horford remained on the bench.
It did not go particularly well.
Tillman set some rock-solid screens, but he also passed up some open threes. And when he did decide to let it fly, his attempts did not fall.
It’s been a brutal season for Tillman stock, and it didn’t get any better on Monday night.