LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — James Harden continues to be the Houston Rockets’ driving force, delivering his 24th 40-point performance on Sunday while the Boston Celtics fell back into their bad habits.
Harden finished with 42 points, including six 3-pointers, as the Rockets overcame a Celtic rally for a 115-104 victory in front of 18,600 at the Boston Garden.
The Rockets watched their 28-point lead dwindle to single digits. But they did what they have always done this season by turning to Harden — the main offensive weapon behind their quest for a favorable seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
Houston entered the game in fifth place in the Western Conference standings, a game behind of fourth-place Oklahoma City.
With 1:44 left in the fourth and Houston leading 112-104, Harden fouled out of the contest — but by then the damage had been done.
Harden shot 14-of-31 from the floor and went 8-of-9 form the free throw line.
Eric Gordon added 32 points and had eight 3-pointers for the Rockets, who have been trying to maintain consistency despite a constant roster flux because of injuries.
The Celtics fell behind by 28 points before going on a 17-6 run at the beginning of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 106-96.
Kyrie Irving tallied 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists and Al Horford finished with 19 points for the Celtics, who have lost five of their last six games.
The struggling Celtics were coming off their first win since the All-Star Game break on Friday over the Washington Wizards.
But any positive feeling was blunted by Sunday’s loss to Houston as the Celtics fell back into their old ways, shooting just 29 percent (8-of-28) from 3-point range.
It doesn’t get much easier for the Celtics, who play their next four games on the road, opening against the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors.
The one piece of good news is they travel to Staples Center to face the Los Angeles Lakers, who despite having LeBron James are struggling even more than Boston.
The Rockets next face the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday.
© Agence France-Presse
