Boston Celtics edged by the Houston Rockets 123-120 (+ highlights)
The Boston Celtics nearly came away with their second win this season against the red-hot Houston Rockets, who extended their win streak to 15 games with the home court victory in a close-fought battle.
While Boston has struggled at times against lesser teams, you have to like the Celtics' chances given a split series won on razor-thin margins decided as much by the home court advantage as anything despite each team leading the league in either offense (Houston) or defense (Boston).
With news from coach Brad Stevens that Gordon Hayward is not going to play this season, seeing Greg Monroe shine on the biggest of regular-season stages is certainly exactly what you'd want to see - aside from a win anyway - so his 18-point, 6 board and 2 block performance off the bench not even being the best bench performance on a team struggling with bench scoring makes this L as palatable as they come.
Marcus Morris rising to the occasion with 21 points, bolstered by Terry Rozier's 17 on 7-of-10 shooting should put the notion of a bench that can't score to bed. As much as it stinks not taking the night, the question for the Cs going forward is no longer if they can put together a competitive challenge for the league's best teams - but rather how often.
The Celtics next face the Chicago Bulls on Monday, March 5th in Chicago at 7pm EST.
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Video: MLG Highlights
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