The Houston Rockets are arguably coming off their two most impressive wins of the year, given the circumstances, and finally come home after a successful 4-1 road trip. Things don’t get much easier on Monday night as they face a Boston Celtics team, that many people had as a team that could challenge the Cavaliers in the East, and are in third place in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics have been a mystery to guess how they will play as of late with games that merit concern like only a one point win against the worst-team in the league against the 76ers last time out.

James Harden has struggled in this match up before, only reaching 30 points once in 14 meetings, but with his caliber of play late and Avery Bradley regressing as a defender, The Beard should still do work. Something to watch in the game is how Ryan Anderson, coming off two very good performances, will match up against a defensive stronghold in Amir Johnson.

On the Boston Celtics side, their strength lies in their offensive backcourt and defensive frontcourt. Isaiah Thomas has been impressive thus far, being the team’s leading scorer, but he will see a tough match up against Pat Bev, and it would not be off to think that Avery Bradley could see more usage in an easier match up against Harden.This will be a very interesting match up down low as the Celtics rank 2nd worst in rebounding rate, while the Rockets rank 4th best in rebounding rate. If the Rockets can win the battle on the boards and not let this become a “letdown spot”, they could see their win streak go to three against an overrated Boston Celtics team.

7pm, Root Sports Southwest

Advertisements