Three Studs, Three Duds As Celtics Defeat Rockets For Third Straight Win

The Celtics remained on the road, paying ex-Boston head coach Ime Udoka and the Houston Rockets a visit as part of a back-to-back on Friday night.

Boston gained Kristaps Porzingis back from his four-game absence but without Jaylen Brown (shoulder strain), the Celtics logged their 16th consecutive game without their full compliment of eight rotational players healthy. Going up against Houston’s fierce defense and NBA-leading 14.2 offensive rebounds per game, Boston had its work cut out from the jump.

Still, that didn’t stop Jayson Tatum and Derrick White from leading the way to a third straight Celtics win and improved 26-9 record.

Here are three studs and three duds from Boston’s 109-86 win over Houston:

STUDS
Jayson Tatum
The leadership firepower carried its way from Minnesota to Houston for Tatum.

Boston’s five-time All-Star, once again, did a little bit of everything. Tatum scored 20 points before being substituted by Xavier Tillman Sr. with 4:53 remaining in the fourth quarter. The 26-year-old shot 7-of-19 from the floor, grabbed six rebounds and dished out five assists in 33 minutes.

Payton Pritchard
Another night, another reason why Pritchard is in the driver’s seat for the early Sixth Man of the Year race as Boston’s reserve unit leader.

Pritchard scored a bench-leading 20 points, shooting 8-of-10 from the field and 4-of-6 from three. The undersized guard also grabbed four rebounds, tallied two assists and recorded a block, providing starter-level production for the C’s.

Derrick White
White’s red-hot shooting hand came through once again.

The 30-year-old knocked down 6-of-11 attempts from beyond the arc, finishing the night with a team-high 23 points and a game-high plus-27 rating. White also tallied four rebounds, two assists and a block, helping make up for Brown’s absence.

DUDS
Sam Hauser
The Celtics ran with Hauser, again, in the starting lineup and it didn’t go well.

Hauser went scoreless through 19 minutes. The 27-year-old missed his only shot attempt — a 3-pointer — and grabbed three rebounds and a steal. Granted, on a night where the Celtics wiped the floor with the Rockets, Hauser’s offensive shortcomings were overshadowed.

Houston’s 3-point shooting
The Rockets entered the night as the worst 3-point shooting team in the Western Conference at 32.7% and performed like it.

Houston knocked down just 10-of-36 (27.8%) attempts, which wasn’t just fewer than Boston’s 19 on 48.7% shooting, it was less than its starting five, which shot 14-for-31. Udoka doesn’t have the 3-point threats he did during his Celtics days and that’ll continue to harm Houston’s young up-and-coming roster down the line.

Jeff Green
The former Celtics wing of four seasons didn’t do much across 25 starting minutes.

Green scored just seven points, took two shots and two free throws and collected four rebounds for Houston, logging the lowest scoring total of any Rockets starter. The 38-year-old registered a minus-16 rating, giving Green a lower rating than anyone in Boston’s starting lineup or bench.