The Red Hot Houston Rockets are Rocking

The Houston Rockets were riding their second 14 game winning streak of the 2017-18 season when they faced a serious test in hosting the Boston Celtics on March 3rd. The Celtics were neck and neck with the Toronto Raptors not only for first in the NBA Atlantic Division, but also the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

And it was a challenge, with the Celtics taking a 64-58 lead in the locker room at halftime, and Boston led by as many as eight in the third quarter. But Houston never let it get out of hand, and ground out a comeback, taking the lead for good with 1:16 to go in the fourth on a Trevor Ariza basket following a steal, making it 117-115. Kyrie Irving brought Boston to within one point at 120-119 with 5.2 seconds left on a pair of free throws. The teams exchanged free throws the rest of the way with a pair by Eric Gordon with 2.3 seconds left sealing it for the Rockets for a 123-120 victory, the 15th in a row for Houston.

Eric Gordon came off the bench and led the Rockets with 29 points in 27 minutes on the floor. James Harden, continuing his MVP caliber season, scored 26 and had 10 assists and seven rebounds.

The Rockets closed out the first weekend in March with a record of 49-13, a half game ahead of the 49-14 Golden State Warriors for the best record in the Western Conference. Houston now hits the road for a difficult four game road trip at Oklahoma City (37-28) March 6th, followed by Milwaukee (34-29) March 7th, then to Toronto (45-17, 26-5 at home) on March 9th, and concluding with a very winnable game at Dallas (19-45) on March 11th.