The Boston Celtics won their 20th win of the season by sending the Houston Rockets to their 16th straight loss on Sunday night.
The way the C’s won was impressive. They hit 55.4 percent of field shots and advanced so much in the 134-107 victory that they were able to rest their starters for almost the entire fourth period.
Their effort was also balanced, as their starters played well, but it was really the bank that led them to victory. In particular, there were two prominent players off the bench and their respective performances are a big part of why the Celtics came out with an easy win.
Highlights: C cruise to conquer Rockets in a complete effort
Here are the results of Boston’s victory over Houston, including another great game for Robert Williams.
1. Robert Williams is on his way to historic pitch numbers
Williams made another excellent move on Sunday, scoring 16 points, picking up 13 boards and recording three thunderous blocks against the Rockets. During the game, he threw 7 of 7 off the ground, and that highlights a tendency for him.
Team Lord has played 31 games this season for the Celtics. In eight of those competitions, he was perfect on the pitch. And among all NBA players, Williams ranks sixth this year in percentage of pitches this season, with a mark of 70.6%.
Obviously, Williams rarely kicks the ball from a distance and, more commonly, just climbs up to layups and dunks near the rim. This is his game. The way he does this is impressive and was punctuated by big dunks like the one below.
Still, Williams’ shot is on track to be historic.
During his three seasons in the NBA, Williams has never recorded worse than a 70.6 percentage of field shots. Okay, he recorded that number while making just 1.6 shots per game as a rookie, but it’s still impressive.
For his career, Williams is shooting 71.3 percent from the ground. If he continues at this pace, he will be more than four percentage points ahead of the current NBA leader in percentage of goals, DeAndre Jordan.
Of course, Williams has to register 400 career games before he can qualify for the all-time statistics leaderboards – he has only played 92 so far – but the point still remains. If Williams can continue to finish at the rim at high speed, he will be one of the most efficient players in NBA history.
2. Marcus Smart silently helped to awaken Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown
The Celtics had a much-needed first-rate performance from Tatum and Brown on this one. The two combined scored 47 points from 58 percent of shots and helped the C’s to build unsurpassed leadership.
By reaching these impressive statistics, the pair reached a milestone they had not reached since January 30 against the Los Angeles Clippers, as pointed out by Jared Weiss from The Athletic. Both shot better than 50 percent in the same game.
That date of January 30 is important, as it was the game in which Smart suffered the first calf injury that knocked him out for 20 games. And it’s clear that it had an impact on Tatum and Brown’s ability to achieve good, open looks in this one.
Smart recorded a modest line of statistics of five points and three assists during the game. However, he did two critical things to help Tatum and Brown in this case.
First, he kept the ball moving on the court. Second, he was vocal on the court in coordinating the attack and had the C’s constantly moving out of the ball. This gave Tatum and Brown clues to the basket that they successfully attacked.
Did Tatum and Brown hit any tough contested bids during this game? Yes, and this one from Tatum was particularly impressive.
But in general, the pair was able to get open looks during the game, and that was largely thanks to Smart’s presence and willingness to move the ball.
3. There is a reason the Rockets have lost 16 consecutive games
Obviously, this victory was fun for the Celtics, but it is important to remember that they were facing what may well be the worst team in the NBA.
The Rockets lost 16 consecutive games. They have some talented players in their squad, but the C’s have faced only one proven player in this competition, Victor Oladipo. Boston did a good job against Oladipo, limiting him to 9 of 23 shots, although he added 26 points.
However, outside of Oladipo, the Rockets were significantly understaffed. The team ran out of six players on Sunday night, including John Wall, Christian Wood, Danuel House and PJ Tucker. So that partly explained why the C’s were able to hit the Rockets so easily.
As complete as it was a victory, the Celtics could not be too convinced before a major clash with Utah Jazz on Tuesday night. Jazz has the NBA’s best record at 28-10, so they will provide the C’s with a much more difficult test than the exhausted Rockets.