The Green Invasion, Rockets go for 23 in a row

Tonight the Rockets have perhaps the largest test of the streak to date. The Boston Celtics come in to the Toyota center to take on the guys in Red and White at 8:30PM CST live on TNT. I'll spare you the suspense: Charles Barkley will assuredly say that the streak will end tonight and Kenny Smith will finally let a little Rockets bias through and pick Houston saying something along the lines of "They just keep winning, I don't know, but they just keep winning".

Boston Celtics: 53-13 (24-8 on the road) 9-1 in their last 10

Houston Rockets: 46-20 (26-9 at home) 10-0 in their last 10

What can I say about the Celtics that hasn't already been said? Oh I know, Detroit is NOT better than they are. In fact, they are 5 full games worse. I have no idea why people keep trying to say they are worse than the Pistons (or why that would be an insult even if true). They have played the game 3 times this year and Detroit won by 2 early in the season at Boston, then Boston returned the favor winning by 7 in Detroit. Only 13 days ago today the Celtics closed out the series in a blowout winning by 12 (and any double digit victory in a game with teams that good is a blowout). They took defense to a new level in that game, holding the Pistons to 11 in the fourth quarter. And let's not forget that this is basically the same Detroit team (admittedly with some good additions but still basically the same) that lost to Cleveland in the playoffs last year, so I'll believe their prowess when I see it in the playoffs.

Last night the Celtics came back from down 22 (yep, 22) to beat the Spurs in San Antonio. They actually tried to give the game away as Kevin Garnett threw the ball away with a few seconds left and Big Shot Rob had an obstructed look to win but missed. Boston is now 21-4 against the West this year, with their losses coming to Utah at home by 18 last week, and three back to back to back road losses to Denver, Phoenix and Golden State in mid February. Essentially that wraps up to "The Boston Celtics are really good", you know, in case the 53-13 thing didn't convince you. I'm guessing they are about as sick of the "They play in the East so I'm really not sure how good they are" as we are of the "The Rockets haven't played anyone in the streak so I'm not really sure how good they are". 21-4 against the West and wins over the Hornets (home and away), the Lakers, the Mavericks, the Nuggets, the Trailblazers, etc are your answers respectively. Both teams are really good and can beat any other team in the league on any given night.

What's my prediction? 23 in a row, the luck of the Irish was last night, the luck of the Rockets is nightly.

Injury Updates: Looks like Ray Allen is out and Carl Landry could finally be back