The Houston Rockets (33 - 14) defeated the Boston Celtics (16 - 29) 93 - 87 on Friday. Donatas Motiejunas stepped his game up in Dwight Howard's absence. Motiejunas had season highs of 26 points and 12 rebounds. The Rockets were in control for most of the game, and at one point led the Celtics by 19 points in the second quarter. However, a nine - point third quarter from the Rockets would give Boston a fighting chance. Marcus Thornton hit a shot to shorten the Houston lead to just three points with 27 seconds remaining. James Harden and Corey Brewer would go on to hit 3 - of - 4 free throws to seal the victory for the Rockets. The Celtics got another lightning - rod performance from Marcus Thornton. He led the bench attack for the second - straight game. Thornton scored 17 points in 23 minutes on Friday, after putting up 15 points in 14 minutes against the Timberwolves on Wednesday. Boston is now 3 - 6 over their last nine games, including three - straight losses at home. The Rockets have now won four straight and will play the Pistons in Detroit on Saturday. The Celtics will host the Miami Heat on Sunday.
["TeamStat(G,'Celtics') has 29 Percentage of 3 points ,has 87 Losses ,has 16 Total points ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Rockets') has 27 Percentage of 3 points ,has 14 Losses ,has 93 Total points ,has 9 Points in 3rd quarter ,has 33 Wins ."]