Houston Rockets vs. Boston Celtics game preview

The Houston Rockets are mired in a 14-game losing streak. After a difficult loss to the New York Knicks on Saturday night, they head to Boston to take on the Celtics.

Yeah, it appears the streak will continue.

The Celtics are 9-8 and are currently tied for seventh in the East. That’s not where a team with their talent expects to be, but they’ve been dealing with injuries like Houston has early in the season.

For the Rockets, Kevin Porter Jr. is still day-to-day with a thigh injury. For the Celtics, Jaylen Brown has been out for over two weeks with a hamstring injury and Robert Williams III has been dealing with a knee issue.

That has forced new Celtics coach Ime Udoka to run with an 8-man rotation, with the starters playing 30+ minutes each. Enes Kanter and Josh Richardson come off the bench, and there’s a cadre of other options that Udoka can choose from to complete the rotation.

Boston’s offense will be centered around Jayson Tatum and Rockets dismantler Dennis Schroder. Marcus Smart does a little of everything for Boston, and Al Horford and Grant Williams do the dirty work for the Celtics. They’re exactly the sort of veteran team that Houston’s youth and inexperience has trouble hanging with in second halves.

Houston’s losing streak has now reached the point where it’s extra frustrating for many reasons, not least of which is that every team they play will now be trying extra hard to not be the team that finally loses to the lowly Rockets. Some teams may come in treating the game as an easy win, but the chances of an opponent coming out slowly is growing smaller and smaller with each game.

Tip-off is at 6:30pm CT on AT&T SportsNet Southwest