The Celtics’ NBA-best five-game winning streak came to an end Monday night, as they fell to the Houston Rockets, 109-93.
Boston never led, trailing by as many as 18 points, its largest deficit of the season.
It was a sloppy performance from the Celtics, who struggled to find any rhythm while playing the second night of a road back-to-back and their third game in four nights.
Here are [number] takeaways from the loss, which drops Boston to 1-2 on the road this season. The Celtics will look to bounce back Wednesday night when they return home to host the Milwaukee Bucks, one of just four home games on their November schedule.
The non-Tatum minutes killed the Celtics
The impact of Paul George was obvious Monday night. Despite resting on the second night of the back-to-back, George remains second on the team in total points (124).
The Celtics had virtually no offense outside of Jayson Tatum, who had an inefficient shooting night but still finished with 19 points (5-of-16 FG, 1-of-7 3PT), nine assists, six rebounds, and five turnovers. Tatum scored or assisted on 43% of Boston’s made field goals, further illustrating how much the Celtics relied on him offensively.
Excluding the final 2:29 of garbage time, when Tatum checked out with the Celtics trailing by 15, Boston was outscored by 16 points with Tatum off the floor. The Celtics shot 4-of-23 (17.3%) from the field, 3-of-14 (21.4%) from three and 3-of-4 (75%) from the free-throw line with Tatum on the bench, totaling just 14 points.
Without George, the Celtics needed Derrick White and Payton Pritchard to pick up some of the offensive slack. Instead, they combined for 11 points on 3-of-19 (15.7%) shooting from the field and 1-of-10 (10%) from three. Luka Garza and Neemias Queta more than doubled their output, combining for 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 from three.
Pritchard, who shot 0-of-7 from three on Sunday in Orlando, went 0-of-5 Monday night. Stretching back to Friday’s win over the Bulls, Pritchard has now missed 15 consecutive three-pointers. Excluding his 7-of-10 performance in the first game against Chicago, Pritchard is shooting just 6-of-32 (18.7%) from three this season.
White, after shooting 3-of-7 from three on opening night, has gone 8-of-27 (29.6%) from beyond the arc.
The Celtics need more from those two, especially on nights when George is inactive.
The Celtics offense was ice cold again
The Celtics return from their two-game road trip shooting 24-of-86 (27.9%) from three. They went 12-of-44 (27.3%) on Sunday in Orlando and 12-of-42 (28.6%) on Monday in Houston.
Jayson Tatum shot 1-of-7 (14.3%) from three. Derrick White went 1-of-5 (20%), while Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser were both 0-of-5.
Luka Garza (4-of-7) and Baylor Scheierman (3-of-6) were the only Celtics to make multiple three-pointers.
Those empty possessions, coupled with 16 turnovers, allowed Houston to get out and run in transition, outscoring Boston 18-2 on the fast break. Houston finished 43-of-79 (54.5%) from the field and 14-of-35 (40%) from three. The Celtics, meanwhile, shot 32-of-83 (38.6%) from the field.
When your opponent shoots nearly 16 percentage points better from the field, it’s going to be difficult to win games. The Celtics are now 24-40 when shooting under 30% from three in the Joe Mazzulla era.
Mitchell Robinson’s acclimation is still a work in progress
It was another struggle for Mitchell Robinson, who was a -16 in 15:13. He had four points, four rebounds (one offensive), four fouls and two turnovers. He also briefly left the game in the second quarter with a left thumb sprain.
Robinson is playing a different role in Boston than he did in New York, with the Celtics asking him to do more away from the rim.
That’s something Joe Mazzulla alluded to after the game when discussing Robinson’s offensive rebounding impact, or lack thereof. He has just 11 offensive rebounds in 115 minutes across six games.
“We have him a little further away from the rim, setting screens and playmaking for us on the perimeter is part of our offense,” Mazzulla said. “So, I think that has a little to do with it.”
The timing on the lobs still isn’t there. Neither is Robinson’s conditioning, as evidenced by how much he struggled to keep up with Alperen Sengun on Monday night.
It’s worth noting that Robinson has played fewer than 20 minutes per game in each of the last two seasons. He’s averaged more than 25 minutes per game just three times in his career, topping out at 27.5 minutes over 31 games during the 2020-21 season.
The Celtics have to continue playing Robinson and give him time to work through the adjustment. But it’s been a difficult start for the big man, who signed a three-year, $47.4 million deal with the expectation that he would elevate Boston’s frontcourt. Instead, Neemias Queta and Luka Garza have been more deserving of the bulk of the minutes at center this season.
“At the end of the day, it’s still basketball. Things that I do naturally, I should just still be doing it, and I just haven’t found my rhythm yet.”
