The Boston Celtics fell 114-112 to the Houston Rockets at home Monday night after coughing up a fourth quarter lead and surrendering a game-winning shot to Houston’s Amen Thompson.

The Rockets are one of the top young teams in the NBA, led by former Celtics head coach Ime Udoka. They rank fourth in the league in defense, and have a number of talented individual offensive players. Boston picked up a road win against the Rockets a few weeks ago thanks to a strong showing from the starters, but tonight the shorthanded Celtics had their hands full trying to pull out another win. Boston did build a 12-point lead in the fourth, but the Rockets roared back to score on the final play and steal a win.

Let’s jump in and recap the action from TD Garden, a 114-112 Celtics loss.

Jan 27, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Houston Rockets forward Amen Thompson (1) drives the ball to the basket against Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) in the last seconds of then game at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images

First quarter

Jaylen Brown got the party started for the Celtics. He had 10 points in the first frame, including a few very impressive fadeaway jumpers. This helped Boston jump out to an early lead. Brown led all Celtics scorers with 28 points overall.

The Rockets responded, thanks to a hot streak from behind the 3-point line. At one point they went on a 10-0 run after falling behind, and actually pulled ahead to take a 31-27 lead heading into the second. Houston’s Amen Thompson was a big contributor here, with 14 of his 33 points come in the frame. This marks a career high for Thompson.

It’s worth pointing out that Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla experimented with his lineups in the quarter. Jordan Walsh, Neemias Queta, and Xavier Tillman all saw action in the first, at times all together.

Second quarter

Houston’s hot offense extended into the second quarter, as did Mazzulla’s lineup tinkering. Boston’s bench guys looked a little rough playing in these unique groupings, but played well enough to keep the Rockets from getting too far ahead.

These peculiar lineups made Boston a bit too slow on defense. This might help explain Houston’s performance from deep. Despite being one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the NBA, the Rockets were 9-for-19 at one point. For the game, Houston went 17-for-41 on 3s.

There was yet another irregularity in the first half of this one. Celtics star Jayson Tatum was held to 0 points, missing all 5 of his shots in that time. He did have 3 rebounds and 5 assists, and Tatum ended the game with 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists.

Third quarter

Houston held the line, staying just ahead of Boston well into the third quarter. This was in part thanks to a monster performance from Dillon Brooks, who had 36 points for the game on a career-best 10-for-15 performance shooting 3-pointers.

Mazzulla continued to play with his groupings, in part because Al Horford, Sam Hauser, and Derrick White all missed the game. Likewise, this was Boston’s fifth game in eight nights. This meant Drew Peterson saw some game time her in the third, as did the rest of Boston’s role players.

Tatum found his rhythm here in the third, giving the Celtics a lot more balance. Boston wrestled away control of the game and the lead, and headed into the fourth with a ton of momentum.

Fourth quarter

Luke Kornet provided some early offense for the Celtics in the last leg of the game. All told he had 18 points and 7 rebounds. Payton Pritchard was also big at this juncture, with 15 points of his own for the game.

Boston at one point through the third and fourth went on a 25-8 run, and looked poised to run away with the game. But Houston countered with a run of their own, in part thanks to some sloppy play from the Celtics. Boston had 14 turnovers overall.

The Celtics also came up cold as the Rockets found their footing. The Rockets outscored Boston 25-11 over the final few minutes of the fourth, punctuated by Thompson’s game-winning shot over Brown in the paint.

Boston is back in action Wednesday night to take on the Chicago Bulls.

If you enjoy this pod, check out the “How Bout Them Celtics,” “First to the Floor,” “Celtics Lab,” and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Rockets blast Celtics at buzzer, Boston falls 114-112 at home