The Houston Rockets continued their incredible January with a thrilling win over the defending champion Boston Celtics on Monday night, 114-112.
Amen Thompson hit a game-winner with 0.7 seconds remaining to give the Rockets their third consecutive win and push their record to 10-3 this month. They are now 31-14 overall, which is the third-best mark in the NBA.
After trailing by as many as 12 early in the fourth quarter, the Rockets stormed back and turned the contest into a back-and-forth battle down the stretch. There were three ties and seven lead changes over the final 5:23, the last of which came on Thompson’s last-second winner.
The rising star sophomore took advantage of some confusion on the Celtics’ part to get a step on Jaylen Brown, bumped him off his spot and rattled home a push shot from 10 feet. Thompson, whose move into the starting lineup has helped fuel the Rockets’ recent burst, finished with a career-high 33 points along with 10 rebounds and four assists.
“That felt great. That’s my first game-winner,” Thompson said after the win. “I feel like Kobe.”
Thompson’s heroics set up by Dillon Brooks’ 3-point barrage
While Thompson was once again terrific on both ends, he wouldn’t have been in position to play hero for the Rockets if not for an exceptional performance by Dillon Brooks.
The defensive-minded guard switched it up and was an unstoppable offensive force on Monday. He set a new career-high and tied a franchise record with 10 3-pointers and finished with 36 points — one short of his career best.
Brooks drained his first four 3-pointers and never looked back. He made another five in a row in the second half, including a massive one with less than two minutes to play. Coming into the game, Brooks was shooting 36.7% from behind the arc for the season, but was 11 of 42 in his last eight games.
The Celtics were willing to let him shoot, particularly early on, and he made them pay.
Rockets thriving against NBA’s best teams
The young Rockets have now beaten the Cleveland Cavaliers (twice) and Celtics in their last three games and are the only team in the league with wins against the Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder — each conference’s respective leader. Overall, they are 18-9 against teams with a winning record.
While there are still valid questions about how the Rockets’ offense will translate to the playoffs, they’ve shown that they can not only compete with, but beat, the league’s best teams.
At the very least, their defense, toughness and athleticism will keep them in games and make them extremely difficult to play.
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