Houston Rockets vs Boston Celtics Box Score on Dec 28, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 28, 2017

BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics pulled off the biggest comeback of the NBA season on Thursday night.

Down by 26 points early in the third quarter, the Celtics never led until Al Horford scored with 3.7 seconds left, and Boston escaped with a wild 99-98 victory that sent the short-handed Houston Rockets to their fourth consecutive loss.

The game turned in the closing seconds on back-to-back offensive fouls called against Houston's James Harden in the backcourt. Each time, the Rockets star knocked down Marcus Smart as Houston tried to inbound the ball with no timeouts left.

Down 98-95, the Celtics (29-10) got a slam dunk from Jayson Tatum to make it 98-97 with 7.3 seconds on the clock. The first call against Harden set up the winning basket. The second led to Horford being fouled with two seconds remaining.

Horford missed both foul shots, the second on purpose, but there wasn't enough time for Houston to do anything with the rebound.

As the Celtics celebrated, the Rockets stood to the side, stunned.

The previous top comeback this season was the Golden State Warriors coming back from 24 down to win at Philadelphia on Nov. 18.

Kyrie Irving led the Celtics with 26 points despite going 1 of 6 from 3-point range. The team was just 8 of 29 from long range.

Tatum scored 19 points, while Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart each scored 13 and Marcus Morris had 10. Horford had nine points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Harden posted game highs with 34 points and 10 assists. He shot just 7 of 27 from the floor but hit all 15 free throws, including four on one possession thanks to two technical fouls. Eric Gordon scored 17 of his 24 points in the first half, and Trevor Ariza had 11 points for the Rockets (25-8).

Houston shot more 3-point attempts (43) than 2-point attempts (37).

The Rockets, who scored the game's first 12 points, were missing the injured Chris Paul, Clint Capela and Luc Mbah a Moute.

Houston led 64-38 1:09 into the second half before the Celtics began coming back. However, the margin was still 23 before Boston ripped off 12 points in a row.

Houston's Tarik Black hit a slam with 5:44 left in the third quarter, and after that, Gordon's 3-pointer was the only Houston field goal until Nene scored inside with 6:53 remaining in the game.

NOTES: The game was played with only two officials. Mark Lindsay was out due to a sore back. ... Celtics G Terry Rozier came in leading the NBA with 888 bench minutes. ... Boston coach Brad Stevens on the Rockets signing former Celtic Gerald Green, who flew in Wednesday for his second stint with the Rockets (he played four minutes in 2007-08): "I wish they would have waited until tomorrow. But I'm happy for Gerald." Green played 47 games for the Celtics last season. ... Boston's G League team in Maine acquired former No. 1 overall draft pick Anthony Bennett, who is still available to any team that wants to sign him. ... Celtics F Jaylen Brown (foot) and F Semi Ojeleye (back) remained out while F Marcus Morris (knee), who missed 10 of the previous 11, was back in. ... The Rockets complete their back-to-back at Washington on Friday night. The Celtics host the Brooklyn Nets early New Year's Eve.