Given that the Rockets were helpless to stop the Celtics, especially anytime they broke their makeshift starting lineup in any way, shooting might have been the least of their troubles. That just made it all much worse.
The Celtics did not just torch the Rockets. They seemed to take turns, as if running a sprint relay with handoffs from Jayson Tatum to Jaylen Brown, Kemba Walker and finally to the bench they cleared early.
The Rockets, however, also demonstrated again that it is impossible to have much of an offense with players barely learning one another’s names and missing 3s.
That assured that the Celtics would romp, sending the Rockets to a 16th consecutive loss, the second-longest uninterrupted run of losses in franchise history, with a 134-107 blowout.
The Rockets’ ongoing inability to put the ball in the basket allowed the Celtics no choice.
The Rockets had made just 27.7 percent of their 3s in the rest of the losing streak, 22.7 percent in the first two games after the break.
After making 4 of 7 3-pointers to start on Sunday, taking an eight-point lead, they made just 3 of their next 26 from deep as the Celtics built a 32-point lead through three quarters and began clearing the bench.
Before they turned things over to Tacko Fall to give Toyota Center fans something to watch, Tatum beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer, doing something in that final split second of the third quarter the Rockets could not in the entire quarter. They had taken nine treys in the quarter and missed them all.
Victor Oladipo led the Rockets with 26 points before sitting out the fourth quarter. But he made just 3 of 10 3-pointers, all in that opening run to the early lead. Kevin Porter Jr., in his second start, had 11 points with seven assists. But did not score after the first eight minutes.
In what the Rockets hope will be their last game before Christian Wood, John Wall and Danuel House Jr. come back, no other Rockets player scored in double figures prior to the fourth quarter when K.J. Martin scored 12 of his 21 points and Mason Jones and Ben McLemore scored all 23 of their points.
No Celtics player needed to play even 30 minutes with Brown scoring 24, Tatum 23 and Walker 11 of his 16 points in the first two minutes of the second half when Boston rushed a 13-point halftime lead to 23 and never looked back.
The Rockets had gotten off to a fast start. It was perhaps their best since they led Miami by 10 at the end of the first quarter more than a month ago. But it also did not seem built to last, and not only because it was one of just two games in the 16 prior to Sunday they took a lead into a second quarter.
The Rockets were forcing turnovers rapidly in those opening minutes, allowing them to get into the open court and build an eight-point lead. They were making shots as they rarely have over the past month and half, but they have had stretches of six minutes before.
It seemed clear that they would have to get stops in ways other than being first to loose balls.
They could not. Brown especially burned them, scoring 14 of his 21 first-half points in the second quarter. Even before he took off, the Celtics made 8 of 9 shots to end the first quarter and start the second, lighting up what has become of the shorthanded Rockets second unit.
Without stops, the Rockets were stuck running their offense against a set Celtics defense, forcing them to rely on their usually awful 3-point shooting. After making 4 of 7 3s through the first 7 ½ minutes, the Rockets made 3 of 18 the rest of the half. Other than Oladipo and Porter, they were 2 of 13 from deep in the half.
The Celtics had no such difficulty getting good looks. They made 52.1 percent of their shots, 42.1 percent of their 3s in the half, leading by as much as 19 before taking a 66-53 lead into the second half. But it looked as if with the shots they were getting, they could have shot much better than that. They made just 1 of 8 shots, a tip-in of a missed shot, after leading in the final 3 ½ minutes of the second quarter.
That kept the Rockets in the game, but with few signs they could repair all that was broken.
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Rockets' losing streak reaches not-so-sweet 16 games - Houston Chronicle
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